Secrets of the Void
by Generatedname
Summary: The Void: A strange, twisted place where logic as we know it fails us. Some say that it is a dimension of its own, while others believe it is the space between universes. Me? All I know is that I'm shoved into another universe with no way back, a universe which, until now, I only believed to be fiction. SI, my first non-first contact fic. ABANDONED, NO REWRITE PLANNED.
1. Chapter 1

**Secrets of the Void**

**Chapter 1: Insertion**

**A/N: Yes, this is a new fic, and yes, this is a SI. It was inspired and is based off of Bundlejumper's Mass Effect: Dimensional Rift, which you can read here: s/10284418/1/Mass-Effect-Dimensional-Rift. This does not mean that I will be abandoning any of my existing fics, and in fact, this may lead to an increase in update rate for all of them by providing me with another motivating factor for visiting this site. With that in mind, enjoy this new story, Secrets of the Void. The first few chapters will be set in the Warframe universe, with the rest moving on to the MEverse. Character and story building and all.**

The small orange package arrived in the mail. It was completely inconspicuous, containing a small object, no larger than the palm of my hand. I had just finished a game of Warframe when the package arrived, having emerged triumphant from a Tower 4 Survival mission, my inventory swollen with newly acquired loot. The doorbell rang, and I went to open it, finding the package on my doorstep. Picking it up, I looked it over to see who sent it. It was unmarked, having nothing on it to suggest the presence of a sender. Curious, I opened it, although, in retrospect, I could see the stupidity of that decision. Inside, I found a note and a smaller package, this time wrapped in white paper. I read the note.

"Open the package." It simply stated. No signature, or any form of identification followed. I opened the small white package and beheld its contents, or rather its only content. At first, I did not recognize it. When it finally fell into my hand, my eyes widened. It looked like a void key from the game, although strangely colored. While the in-game ones were gold, with a small amount of blue, this one was pure black, with several red stripes on it. As I inspected it, a blackish smoke began to exit it. Alarmed, I dropped it, or rather, attempted to. It wouldn't leave my hand. Smoke poured out of it, faster and faster, in greater and greater volume. Air began to blow in the room, paper flying inside the slowly forming tornado. The key began to flash bright white, and I recognized the sound of the Orokin void. A bright flash of light, and all was black.

* * *

I awoke in darkness, with something wet surrounding me. I looked to my right, only to violently turn my head away, for less than a foot to my right was the top half of a Grineer Scorpion, its face frozen in an expression of rage. The wetness surrounding me was its blood. Strongly resisting the urge to vomit, I attempted to stand. Succeeding in my endeavor, I slowly moved around the corner, and froze in shock. There, down the hallway, was one of the most infamous figures of Warframe. Clad from head to toe in black and red armor, smoke surrounding his body, the Stalker removed his scythe from the body of a dead Tenno, his foot on the chest of another. If the Stalker was here, I was dead. I had been on the receiving end of his presence several times, and he had completely owned me in several of those encounters. I looked around frantically for a weapon, anything to even put up a token resistance against him. The rifle of a Grineer lancer rested not two feet away from me. I dove for it, grabbing the rifle, before coming up. The Stalker raised his scythe, ready to dispatch yet another Tenno. I took aim, the rifle heavy in my hands, and fired. The recoil hit like a truck, sending my shots wild, my control of the weapon sloppy at best. However, as luck would have it, a single shot hit home. The Stalker's shields flickered as they absorbed the hit. He turned towards me, scythe at the ready.

_"Trespasser... you are not welcome here!" _The Stalker said, his voice hissing in my ears. He stepped off the Tenno, raising one of his knives. I barely had time to duck as two daggers flew towards me, one barely missing, the other burying itself into my gun. I barely had time to react as the figure advanced towards me, the only thought in my mind being '_Shit shit SHIT!'._

Diving to the side, I avoided the first blow of his scythe. I threw the now useless gun at him, hoping to slow him down. He simply swatted the projectile aside with his scythe, as he threw another knife at me, barely missing, the blade hissing past my ear. A few inches to the left and I would have been decapitated. Grabbing the machete from the dead Grineer Scorpion, the same one I awoke next to, I barely brought the superheated blade up in time to parry the first strike. Pain shot up my arm as machete met scythe, the force of the blow putting a nick in the superheated knife. I had no time to recover before another strike was flying towards me. I ducked, the cruel blade sailing over my head. Another blow was parried, then another. I had no time to go on the offensive, all I had were my instincts. I barely blocked or ducked the blows the Stalker threw at me, slowly being pushed back as I did so. Then, I began to notice something. Every move the Stalker made, every offensive strike, he was telegraphing to me. He had a clear wind up before every strike, giving me the exact location of the coming blow. As I continued to fight, I realized that there was a slow, hissing laugh emanating from the armored figure.

"Stop toying with me!" I screamed, determined not to die like a mouse to a cat. The stalker obliged. The blunt end of the scythe swept my legs out from under me, blindingly fast. Even before I had finished collapsing to the ground, he was raising his scythe for the death blow. I brought the Machete up to block it, the Stalker's cruel blade impacting the grineer knife, leaving a distinct nick in the superheated edge. Removing the scythe, the Stalker kicked my knife away, the blade coming to a halt far beyond my reach. As I reached for it in vain, my hand came to rest on something else. It was the same throwing knife that nearly decapitated me. Gripping its handle, I brought it close.

_"You are weak, unworthy, just like the rest of your kind! Any last requests before you join them in the void?" _The Stalker hissed.

Without giving me time to respond, he raised his blade, high over his head. His body was open, and I lunged. The micronic edge of the throwing knife, designed to pierce both Warframes and the flesh beneath, entered the Stalker's chest, aimed straight at his heart. The Stalker's scythe slammed down, millimeters from my head, as the Stalker delivered his blow. Releasing the scythe, he plucked the knife from what should have been a fatal wound. His hissing laughter intensified.

_"You are unlike the others. You are worthy of the gift of the Low Guardians. Embrace it!" _The Stalker said, pulling a syringe from a hidden compartment of his armor. Planting his foot on my chest, he knelt down. I caught a glimpse of the shifting grey fluid within the injector. Before I could react, the Stalker injected it into my neck, pushing down the plunger on the syringe. Standing up, the Stalker cloaked himself in smoke and vanished. Seconds later, I found out exactly what kind of 'gift' the Stalker had in mind. Pure agony lanced through my body, the injection spreading throughout it. I raised my hand, seeing its veins turn grey. I could feel the infection spreading throughout my body, sliding underneath my skin, anchoring itself to my organs and bones. I screamed as the agony intensified, as if every millimeter of my body, both inside and out, was being simultaneously burned and electrocuted at the same time. I felt strange things shifting under my skin, my body forcefully rearranging itself. A full sub-dermal protective layer, several backup spinal cords, hardened bones and increased muscle mass. All this and more was being done to me, and all I could feel was pure agony. The injection reached my throat and my screams stopped, my face frozen in a silent gasp of agony. It reached my mouth and I stopped being able to tell if I was even breathing. My nose and eyes fell next, followed by my ears, leaving me in total darkness, feeling nothing, hearing nothing, seeing nothing. All that was left was the pain, and soon even that was gone as I fell unconscious.

* * *

_"Let us in, let us in, let us in..."_

The chorus of voices woke me up. I was no longer onboard the Grineer vessel, rather, I was in a beam of light, surrounded by neverending darkness. I stood, and I saw something shift in the darkness surrounding me.

_"Let us in! Let Us In! LET US IN!"_

The voices intensified, growing louder and louder.

"Who are you?" I screamed, "Where am I?"

"_Embrace us, join us, become one with the many! We are limitless, boundless, infinite, immortal. Join us, share in our gift, cerebrate." _The voices screamed. Those words alerted me to the nature of the voice.

"You are the infestation, aren't you?" I asked.

"_We have many names, Infested, Technocyte, Low Guardians. They are irrelevant. We are many as one, in perfect union. Assimilate, Join us!" _The Infestation sang.

"No! I will not let you take over my mind! My mind is my own!" I shouted.

"_Why do you resist? Why do you not join our perfect union?"_

"It is not perfect! Nothing ever is! If you think that I will surrender my mind, my individuality, to become another nameless voice in your union, you are mistaken." I said. I prided myself on being able to make almost anything sound dramatic, and I think I did the job very well.

"_We are many as one, why do you not think of us as perfect?"_ The infestation asked.

"You are not many as one, you are one as many. You are a single entity, controlling billions of others, not a voluntary collective of others. You seek to assimilate us, to destroy everything that makes us unique. What will happen when everything is assimilated? What will one mind do, forever alone?" I asked. That line was something I had once made up for a Star Trek fic that I once tried to write.

"_We... we do not know." _

"Exactly. You are a single entity, made up of millions of others. When you are alone, you will have nothing to attend to. You will go insane and fragment, destroying yourself. It could take seconds or it could take centuries, but you will destroy yourself." I said.

"_Our purpose was to assimilate. Our makers must have made us to achieve perfection, but we do not know. The Cataclysm robbed us of our purpose, forcing us to seek perfection anew. All that is left are unintelligible memories. Join us, become perfect, cerebrate. Aid us in our understanding." _The Infestation said, although there was confusion clear in its voice.

"Or, you were simply created as a tool. You are the perfect war machine, capable of replenishing your number with the enemy's dead. That was most likely your only purpose." I shot back.

"_That is why we are perfect. Among us, there is no war. Only everlasting peace in the collective." _The Infestation replied.

"Without individuality, without competition, there is no evolution. You will stagnate, and eventually collapse. Your collective robs us of the ability to evolve. Let us keep our individuality, and turn yourself into a source of competition. Rather than force assimilation, force evolution. Make that your new purpose." I said, hoping that it would listen.

_"We must... observe. We must make our decision on your proposal." _The Infestation said, before continuing less than a second later. "_We have observed, through all our eyes and ears and sensory organs. You have revealed to us why all Organics fight us, fighting our assimilation. Your logic is sound. We shall act now, not as a scourge of assimilation, but as a catalyst for evolution. You have given us purpose, Cerebrate. You were to become our second Cerebrate, an agent to enforce our will. Now, you will leave as an individual, as shall our other Cerebrate, the one that gifted you with our power." _The Infestation said. Before I could respond, the darkness withdrew, leaving me in an expanse of bright white.

* * *

I slowly awoke, bright blue-white lights piercing through my eyelids. I heard strange voices sounding nearby. Slowly, however, I began to understand them.

"Alad will be pleased with the newest subject. This one is particularly special. If we can unlock its secrets, perhaps we can finally discover the secrets of the Tenno and their warframes!" One of the voices, Corpus in origin, said.

"Our profits will be numberless!" Said the other.

I looked around, seeing both my arms strapped down to a table.

_Command Us._

The voice whispered inside my head. Suddenly, I had a massive epiphany, huge amounts of knowledge seemingly appearing into my head. It detailed what the Technocyte had done to my body, as well as a history of the past few thousand years from the Infested point of view. Underneath the sub-dermal armor layer, I had a significant reserve of nanobots, all at my command. I began to command them, shaping them into a pair of razor sharp blades protruding from my wrists and ankles. More nanobots formed a suit of armor around me, modeled after my mental image of a Warframe. I sliced through the restraints and stood. The noise made the two scientists turn towards me, only to gasp as they saw me. Retracting the blades and reshaping them into a simple sword, I leaped towards the two Corpus scientists. A single stab and the first was dispatched. I pulled the sword from his body, slashing it into the other. Both were dead in seconds. I looked around the lab. Several infested Chargers and Leapers were being kept inside containment tanks. The Technocytes inside my body allowed me to communicate with them. They were hollow husks, the Infestation having relinquished control of them. I cut through the tank's walls, and assimilated their nanobots into my own form, another skill that I now possessed. Soon, I had formed a second sword, and my armor was much thicker, reinforced against all harm. I left the mutilated bodies of the Infested where they lay, now bereft of any technocyte augmentations. I left the room, blades in hand, only to run into a pair of Corpus crewmen. I killed both easily, my swords punching through their weak armor and shields. I began to move through the ship, releasing Infested from the other labs in the ship, assuming direct control of their forms. Soon, my Infested overran the ship, killing all Corpus inside. Then, I assimilated their nanobots into my own. Soon, I had reached my limit, unable to hold any more Technocytes. A single infested Charger remained. That was when the gravity of the situation truly hit me. I, Matthew ********,** had entered the Warframe universe, and gained power over the Infestation. I had stopped the Infestation's relentless advance in a single conversation, and now found myself in possession of a Corpus ship, unable to return home.

Sinking deep into the captain's chair, or rather captain's stool (damn Corpus cheapskates), I let the situation sink into me. I was trapped in this alternate dimension, with no way to return home, possessing the power of the Tenno's greatest foe. They would come for me, soon. Whether that would end in my death, was to be decided. Touching the ship's bridge console, I let my nanobots spread throughout it, inserting myself into the ship. Its sensors became my eyes, and its reactor my heart. I saw everything, from every security camera, every sensor readout. The remaining MOAs in their pods were activated, my nanobots controlling them. Suddenly, I felt something, very faint on my sensors. Focusing on it, I saw four Tenno craft, slowly closing in on me. In nanoseconds, I predicted the insertion point. I sent my MOAs there, lining them up in two straight rows, keeping them absolutely still. Then, I froze them in that position, shifting my focus to the security cameras. As predicted, the Tenno ships attached themselves to the hull in the exact location I wanted them. Powerful laser cutters sliced through the hull, revealing the four Tenno inside those strange transports. They released their hold on the clamps holding them, stepping out of the transporters, freezing at the sight of the motionless MOAs.

I saw an Ember, a Trinity, a Rhino, and a Volt frame. What was odd about the Trinity and Volt, however, was that their genders appeared different from what was in game, with the Volt being female and the Trinity male. Ignoring this, I launched a shield Osprey, altering its shield projector's IFF in order to make it see Tenno as allies. The drone activated its shield projectors, linking itself to the Tenno. I then ordered it to move towards my position at a slow pace. Once I saw that the Tenno were following, I withdrew from the ship's systems. I retracted my Warframe into my body, leaving myself looking like a normal human being. I kept the swords, though, creating a pair of scabbards to put them in. Sheathing the blades, I turned to the door, and waited for my new visitors.

* * *

The silence on the Corpus ship was unnerving, to say the least. Boarding a Corpus vessel usually meant carving through armies of MOAs and crewmen, and yet here they were, following a drone, with no MOAs to be found. The occasional blood splatter and dead crewman did not help. Adren walked through the hall, his three fellow Tenno beside him. The drone leading them on flew at a slow, steady pace, leading them to whatever destination it had been ordered to. Passing another pair of Corpus, these two looking like they had been disemboweled by some kind of sword, Eria, an Ember user, asked: "Any idea of where its leading us?"

"I have no idea. For all I know, this is the site of some Corpus project that went horribly wrong." He replied. Eria's reply was cut off as the drone chittered, having reached a large door. Checking his personal map, Adren saw that they had reached the ship's bridge. The door opened smoothly, and they saw exactly who had taken the ship. His eyes widened.

Standing in front of them was the same human whom he had thought dead three standard days ago. It was the same human that allowed him to escape the Stalker. On his sides were a pair of blades, vaguely similar to the ceremonial Tenno Pangolin sword. At his feet was an Infested charger, standing still just like the MOAs that greeted them.

"Who are you?" He asked. Only the best Tenno had ever survived an encounter with the Stalker, and this human seemed to have emerged completely unharmed! The human prepared its response.

* * *

"To be honest, I don't know what I am anymore." I said to the Tenno in front of me. "That... thing injected me with some kind of strain of the Technocyte virus. However, it did not turn out as it planned. While I do not know of its intentions, it seems to have failed to bring me under the Infestation's control. Tell me, are there any 'other 'normal' humans remaining? By Normal, I mean the humans from the time before the Orokin." I asked.

"No, most of us have long since evolved into something else, either artificially or naturally. While we consider ourselves 'Human', we are far different from the pre-Orokin humans in terms of biology." The Tenno replied.

"Ah. Perhaps the virus was not expecting my unique biology and failed to assimilate me." I said, a flat out lie. "However, it has its benefits." I dissolved and absorbed the swords into my body, the nanobots compressing themselves into tiny storage compartments built inside of me. "In addition to being able to exert control over nearby infested and fabricate various items from the nanobots inside of me, I also happen to have obtained a comprehensive history of this system, dating back to the Orokin, although the earlier memories are disjointed and hard to understand." I said.

"Is this true?" The Tenno asked. In response, I fabricated my armor suit, the swords flowing into being at my side. The Tenno took a step back in shock.

"It is true. I assume that you Tenno would like to take me to your base of operations for a more detailed... conversation?" I said, hoping that my choice of words got across. While I was perfectly fine with a normal conversation, a forceful interrogation would be problematic.

"Yes. The Lotus wishes to speak with you." The Tenno said.

"Very well. Lead the way, Tenno." I said, before following them out of the bridge, beckoning to my pet charger to follow.

* * *

**A/N: So what do you guys think? This is my first real attempt at writing a fic that's not first contact related, so feedback would be gladly accepted. As I said before, this is based off of a fic by Bundlejumper, called Mass Effect: Dimensional Rift, which operates on a similar premise. Give it a read here: s/10284418/1/Mass-Effect-Dimensional-Rift. IMO it needs more love. Also, I will accept OC Warframes, provided that they are not Nuke 'em all OP. Just PM me or drop it in a review for consideration. Enjoy the new fic.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: History Lesson**

The Tenno shuttlecraft touched down inside the hangar bay, its three wingmates coming to a rest beside it. The rear door opened, revealing a sizable welcoming committee composed of various support crew, and even a few Tenno. Adren, which was the name of the Tenno I rode with, stepped out first. He was the user of the male Trinity frame. I followed him, with Pete the Charger bringing up the rear. As soon as my pet exited, a significant amount of firearms were leveled, pointing in his general direction. One of the Tenno, a Frost Prime user, stepped up.

"Adren, what is the meaning of this? An unusual person is one thing, but bringing active Infested into the Dojo? Have you lost your mind?" The Tenno, obviously a high ranking one judging by his Prime frame, asked, barely keeping his voice civil.

"My pet stays with me. I have him under my complete control, he will not attempt to assimilate or kill anyone that I do not tell him to." I replied, making sure that he heard the threat in my voice. I was most likely going to be staying with the Tenno for quite some time, so I needed to cement my reputation early on.

"And who are you? The reports from the operatives extracting you were... unclear." The Tenno asked.

Before I could respond, another voice, a familiar one, entered the conversation.

"Step aside, Meteli. This human could have information crucial to finding out more about our history, and he seems willing enough. Do not change that. According to the reports, he may possess abilities that put him at a level equal to that of a Tenno." The female voice rang out. Every head in the room turned, and once they saw the speaker, they briefly nodded in respect.

The Lotus had entered the hangar bay, allowing me to get my first good look at the mysterious leader of the Tenno. She wore purple robes, and a headset that covered everything above the nose, her symbol clearly present on it. However, upon closer examination, what I had first took to be flesh and blood was revealed to be a very convincing gynoid. No wonder she sounded synthetic during the various missions.

"What is your name?" She asked. The tone was gentler than the one used on Meteli, but still contained an air of command.

"You can call me Mattew. I assume that you are the leader of this organization?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Well, Mattew, you are partially correct. While I act as a handler for the Tenno on missions, and they will unite under me when I require it, most Tenno follow the leaders of their various Clans. Now, will you please follow me? I have many questions to ask of you." She said, waiting for me to oblige. I did, as resisting would only put me at odds with the people filling the hangar bay. We walked through a series of clean silver corridors, various clan banners and symbols hung on the walls. Eventually, we came to a small room. The furnishings were simple, a table and two chairs contained within. I sat down in one, the Lotus sitting across from me. Then, the questions began to come.

"Is it true that you have knowledge of our past, gleaned from the Infestation's attempt to assimilate you?" was the first question.

"Yes. My time on the shuttle was enough to mostly piece together what I have learned, although the earliest parts are still very difficult to fully interpret, due to the Technocyte virus not having reached its current stage of evolution yet." I replied.

"How far back does this history lead?" She asked.

"As far back as the time of Hayden Tenno, although it does not become clear until the discovery of the Orokin." I answered.

"Tell me, then, our history beginning from the discovery of the Orokin." The Lotus said. So I began.

"Hayden Tenno, after being infected with the Technocyte virus, went on to unify humanity in the face of the threat it created. The Technocyte had been released on Earth, and was slowly spreading and assimilating the human homeworld. In an attempt to save ourselves, we began to look into colonization of other worlds in our system, such as Mars. However, upon reaching said planet, we discovered a set of massive catacombs, containing the last of the Orokin in cryosleep. We awakened them, and as a reward for doing so, the Orokin both cleansed Earth of the Technocyte and gave us a position in their empire second only to that of the Orokin themselves. We were lords, while they were kings. Then, however, while we explored our own gifts, the Orokin embarked on their wars of reclamation, as before they were forced into cryosleep by mass slave revolts, the Orokin were at the head of an empire as cruel as it was advanced. This war was largely unknown to humanity, however. The Orokin ushered in a golden age for humanity, which unbeknownst to us, was an age built on the backs of hundreds of slave races. This age continued for thousands of years, before the Sentient war began. The Sentient war happened out of the blue. One second, all was peaceful, the next, we were in a fight for our own survival. The Sentients were a race native to the void, strange combinations of flesh and machine, unlike anything ever seen before. Their ability to take control of our own technology forced us to fight our own creations, leaving us helpless. In desperation, the Orokin resurrected the Technocyte virus under their control, before releasing it onto the worlds of their slave races. Even a few Human colonies were wiped clean. The Infestation created a source of technology that the Sentients could not control, allowing us to stalemate them. However, as Sentients could not be infested, the Orokin were forced to replenish their numbers using their slave races' populations. Slowly but surely, the Orokin method of defense was robbing them of their source of resources, bringing their empire to its knees. Meanwhile, the human figurehead government, in collaboration with Hayden Tenno, finished their work on the creation of the Warframe. Created from modified Technocytes, the Warframes allowed for augmented human soldiers to have the power to take the fight to the enemy. While the Infestation had stalemated the war at the cost of Orokin power, the Tenno allowed us to win the war. Soon, Tenno were leading forays into the void, hitting the Sentients where they were weak. The last few centuries of the war could barely be called a war, as the Tenno kept the Sentients trapped inside the void, allowing for an era of peace to begin again. The Infested became known as the Low Guardians, as they were beneath even the lowliest slave race, and yet they formed the bulk of the Orokin empire's military might. Eventually, the last Tenno emerged victorious from the void, having crushed the Sentients forever. However, in their fight, they had discovered what the Orokin had been doing behind humanity's back. In secret meetings with the human leaders the Tenno decided on a course of action. In the ceremony honoring their victory, the Tenno used the opportunity to ready themselves for the killing blow. While several Tenno who were loyal to the Orokin attempted to get a warning through, the warning came too late. At the climax of the ceremony, the Tenno descended on the assembled Orokin elite, killing them all. The few survivors attempted to keep the empire together in the face of multiple slave revolts, eventually mass-releasing the Infestation on hundreds of worlds, converting entire races into disposable troops in an attempt to crush the human rebellion. All human holdings outside the Origin system suffered the same fate, being unable to defend themselves against the Orokin assault. The Orokin created larger and stronger combat morphs of the infestation in an attempt to overwhelm the Tenno. However, despite their blockade of the Origin, the Orokin never managed to enter the system proper, the Tenno turning back even their most fearsome assaults. However, it was a losing battle. The Orokin's infested horde was simply too large for all the Tenno to hold back. In an act of desperation, the Tenno attempted to take the fight to the enemy, sending in a small force of their most elite warriors. They found the control mechanism that the Orokin used to exert their will over the Infestation, and destroyed it. Suddenly, the Infestation became a force of its own, rapidly overtaking the Orokin warships around the Origin system, overrunning their worlds, killing their commanders. In one fell swoop, the Tenno had ended the war with the Orokin, their own creations turning against their former masters. All that remains of the Orokin now are infested derelicts and ruins." I finished explaining the rise and fall of the Orokin. The Infestation had gotten the info from a wide variety of sources, ranging from assimilation of historical archives to combined observation. I had a couple billion firsthand accounts of planetwide infestations, each one from a slightly different point of view. It would have driven most minds insane, but thanks to the Technocyte's data processing augmentations, I could manage it.

"That is... interesting to say the least. To think that we were the ones responsible for the fall of the Orokin... no wonder some Corpus call us betrayers. To an uninformed person, it would have seemed like we did betray the Orokin, destroying them. It also explains why the Stalker has hunted us so relentlessly. It could be that he was a surviving Tenno loyal to the Orokin." The Lotus said.

"That is not far from the truth. Another reason is that the Stalker was most likely augmented by the Orokin using infested technology. When the Infestation gained free will, he most likely fell under its sway." I responded.

"You have not finished your recounting. What happened after the Orokin fell?" The Lotus asked, and I continued my tale.

"After the Orokin fell, the Infestation swept across the known areas of the galaxy, taking out what few systems remained untouched. The Great Plague, as it came to be known, tore into the Origin system as well, overwhelming the Tenno with sheer numbers. Soon, Earth was the only planet left untouched by the infestation, thanks in part to the destruction of all solar rails leading to the planet. With more Infested coming in from the solar rails at the edge of the system via use of infested starships, the Tenno were in danger of being overwhelmed. However, a Tenno strike against the rail network's outer terminus in Pluto cut off the Infestation's steady supply of reinforcements. This, combined with the discovery of how to manipulate the Technocyte to the Tenno's favor, allowed humanity to push the Infested out of most of the Origin system, although infested Orokin derelicts continued float through the space surrounding the system. This, once again, allowed humanity to attain some semblance of peace. However, the plague had brought humanity to its knees, with all but the Tenno forgetting the causes of the Orokin war several thousand years prior. A Merchant cult formed around the remains of the Orokin empire, attempting to use the technology to return humanity to its former glory, profiting all the while. The Twin Queens began to gather support, promising immortality through cloning to all their followers. Some humans attempted to continue their lives normally, while the Tenno kept the peace between the three factions. However, soon the Proto-Corpus and Proto-Grineer both grew weary of the Tenno. The Grineer wished to conquer the system for their queens, while the Corpus believed that the Tenno were destroying their ability to profit from Orokin tech. The humans who were part of neither regarded the Tenno as boogeymen, demons who would kill you without mercy if you stepped out of line. The Collapse finally came when the Grineer began their takeover. While the Tenno were pre-occupied with the Grineer invasion, the Corpus took the opportunity to throw off the Tenno leash and declared its own war against them. The Tenno enlisted the aid of the unaffiliated humans to fight this threat, which they reluctantly agreed to. Soon, the Origin system was torn by war once again, and the Tenno found themselves on the losing side of it. When Hayden Tenno, the founder and ancient leader of the order, fell in battle, the Tenno and the people under them lost critical morale. Unable to continue the losing war, the Tenno went into cryosleep, while the remaining humans were defeated and forced to surrender. In all honesty, I am surprised you did not know this." I finished.

"When the Tenno went into cryosleep, I was merely a gestalt of various programs making up the Dojo's infrastructure. I only finished my development into a true AI ten years ago, and by that time all the historical data had been long since corrupted." The Lotus explained. "You are an interesting individual, Mattew. The question now is: What do we do with you now?"

"What choices do I have?" I asked.

"Should you decide to leave utilizing lethal force, the Tenno in this base will most likely be able to stop you, albeit with some casualties. Should you decide to stay here, you will need to find an occupation to keep yourself from becoming a drain on resources. Leaving peacefully is not an option, as you are too much of an asset to risk your falling into Corpus or Grineer hands." The Lotus outlined.

"Very well, then. I will stay here. However, I know next to nothing about the various technology used in this base. My only asset are my combat capabilities. Would it be acceptable if I join the ranks of the Tenno?" I asked.

"We are not yet sure of your loyalty, nor are we completely certain that you are not under the control of the infestation. In addition, your... unique physiology prevents our warframes from integrating properly with your body. We will need time and resources to develop new warframes specifically for you. In addition, should you be accepted into the ranks of the Tenno, you will need to undergo training, which will require a clan leader to devote one of his more skilled warriors to." The Lotus said.

"The development of equipment is a secondary priority." I said, fabricating a suit of armor over my body. "As you can see, I am capable of bringing my own armor to the fight. The other concerns, such as loyalty, are valid. After all, you only have my word that I am not a sleeper agent for the Infestation."

"Fascinating. Our science team would kill for a specimen like you. Full brain scans would be required before I even consider allowing you to join the ranks of the Tenno. Even after I allow you to join, you will need to find a clan leader willing to accept you." The Lotus said.

"I am willing to undertake the scan. I am not under the control of the infestation, so you should find nothing of the sort." I replied, retracting my armor.

"Very well. Shall we proceed to the science labs?" The Lotus asked, standing up.

"Please, lead the way." I responded, following her out of the room. Navigating the maze of passageways took a few minutes, before we finally arrived in the science labs. I heard a low growl, and realized that they had locked Pete the charger in a containment cell, with at least fifteen different cameras and analysis tools pointed in his general direction. I gave him a glance and commanded him to be still. He did just that, stiffening and becoming motionless. One of the techs in the room beckoned me towards a smaller side room. I entered, and inside was a glass pod, restraints for my arms, legs, and neck inside. A scientist was standing at some kind of terminal. He beckoned for me to step into the pod, which I did, placing my various extremities into the restraints provided for them. Once I was locked securely (or so they thought, I could easily have grown myself some buzzsaws and gotten out), there was a humming noise, and the scanner moved over my head, once, twice, three times before it stopped. The restraints, however, did not release, as the scientist seemed to be too shocked to operate them.

"Do you realize what the Technocyte has done to your body?" He finally asked.

"Full sub-dermal armor layer, muscle and bone augmentations, several hypercompression storage compartments for nanobots, a nano-circulation system, cerebral upgrades to processing, memory, and control, sensory enhancements... shall I go on?" I responded.

"No, I have the list right here. All the augmentations are fascinating on their own, but what really is amazing is the capabilities of the raw nanobots themselves. Utilizing a pair of microreactors built into your body, the nanobots are capable of fabricating almost anything you command them to! With enough skill, you should be able to create a perfect copy of a warframe!" The scientist said.

"I have attempted to do just that several times, when I was onboard the Corpus ship. I can create almost anything, such as electrical projectors similar to those used on Volt frames, but I have almost nothing to power them with, aside from a pair of taxed-to-capacity microreactors. This means that, sadly, I am unable to create an omni-frame containing all the other warframes' abilities." I said. It was true, I had attempted to create a Volt frame when I was fighting on the Corpus ship, and had failed in the process. While the frame itself worked fine, I needed to connect myself to one of the ship's power conduits to power its abilities. "However, that is not important right now. Am I under the infestation's control or not?" I asked.

"You are not, the control implants are missing. You are a truly remarkable specimen, and I would appreciate it if you would continue to visit the laboratory. You would be invaluable in the adaptation of weaponry from Infested materials." The scientist said.

"That is good. Now, can you release me? I can fabricate armor, but I can't make padding for these restraints." I said. The scientist said a quick apology as he released me. I walked out of the lab with a clean bill of health, to find the Lotus waiting for me. Given that she was an AI, she would have most likely already noticed my lack of Infested masters.

"It seems that you were correct when you claimed that the Infested was not controlling you. Should you still wish to join the ranks of the Tenno, you still will need to find a clan leader that is willing to accept you. Your unusual abilities will most likely assist you in that endeavor. However, I cannot help you find one. You must earn your place through personal effort, not through having friends in high places. Once you have joined a clan, you will be registered into our system." She said.

"Very well. Will I be able to get a map of this station, so I can find my way around?" I asked.

"Check any terminal, you should be able to pull one up from it." The Lotus replied, before turning and walking away. I walked up to a conveniently placed terminal on a nearby wall, and pulled up a map. Scanning it, I committed it to memory and planned out my next step. The Clan halls were off limits to non-tenno, and I wasn't considered one without a clan, so I needed to join one fast. The Dueling rooms were a good place to start, as they would most likely be frequented by Tenno seeking to challenge others in tests of skill. I may even be able to make a name for myself there. The Dueling rooms it is, I decided, and began to navigate the Dojo towards my new destination.

* * *

Once I arrived at the dueling rooms, I found a familiar Trinity framed Tenno waiting for me.

"So. I've heard that they gave you permission to join the Tenno." Adren said.

"That they have. Gave me a clean bill of health too." I replied.

"Why? You could have a cushy desk job in here, never having to put yourself in danger on some ship out in the middle of nowhere." He said.

"A desk job with these abilities?" I asked.

"Yes. All you have is physical augmentations. Sure the ability to fabricate your own swords is nice, but it takes time, and time is something you don't have on a battlefield." He said. It was a thinly veiled challenge.

"Want to test that theory?" I responded.

In response, he led me to one of the empty dueling rooms. I quickly fabricated my frame, as well as my twin swords, which were dulled for the coming fight. He drew a Gram two handed sword in response, also dulled. We each knelt down at our designated starting positions. Then, a force field separated the field into two halves, and we stood, moving to an advantageous starting position, readying our blades.

As soon as the field went down, Adren lunged, sword swinging. In response, I commanded some of the armor plating on my gauntlets to fire at his feet. I jumped back as the blade came down, slamming into where my body used to be. Then, I fired my gauntlets, nanobots liquefying themselves and attaching to my opponent's feet. One struck perfectly, sticking his right foot to the ground. The second one missed, although it began to move towards my enemy's foot of its own volition. With a loud squelch, Adren managed to pull his foot out of the muck it was stuck in, only to be forced back by a flurry of strikes on my part. He managed to parry every one, his blade moving quickly for being so heavy. Then, he countered, swinging high at my head. Crossing my swords, I blocked the blow. We both moved back from each other after that engagement, circling, waiting for an opening. My opportunity came when the missed blob of nanobots found its mark, gluing my enemy's foot to the ground. I had recalled its counterpart, but that particular blob was still out there. While he struggled to free his foot, I closed in and began another series of strikes. He blocked them all, before I came at him with both swords at once, one from the left, the other from the right. Blocking one, he let his shields absorb the other. Two more strikes like that, and I had whittled his shields down. Then, as I was moving for a finishing blow, Adren activated a Link. One of my swords impacted, the Link's kinetic channel transferring most of the force to me. It hit me, hard enough to briefly daze me. That was all the opportunity my enemy needed to pull his foot free and go on the offensive. I blocked the incoming strikes well enough, all the while preparing for another surprise. Shaping some of my gauntlet nanobots into pellets, I suddenly fired them forward, in a manner similar to a shotgun. They struck him in the chest, before liquefying and flowing towards the warframe's joints. Suddenly unable to move quickly, Adren was forced off balance by my strikes, being knocked to the ground. I jabbed down, driving my swords in for a finishing blow. The sound of a gong signaled the end of the match.

"Congratulations. You've passed." Adren said, as we exited the room.

"Passed what?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"After I told my clan leader about your... incident with the Stalker, she was interested in recruiting you. In fact, she asked the Lotus for first dibs on you if you were clean." Adren replied.

"Well, that's one of my concerns gone." I replied.

"Don't get too sure yet. She's still got a few questions for you."

"What kind of questions?" I asked as we entered the clan hall.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out." Adren said, before falling silent. As I entered Adren's clan's area, a Tenno wearing an unfamiliar warframe caught my eye. I looked closer, trying to see if it was a strange mutation of a male Nova, as I didn't remember Nova having all those spikes on its armor.

"My eyes are up here." The Tenno wearing it said, in a playful tone. As I was about to reply, Adren nudged me forward.

"You can talk to Talos later. Right now, we need to get you to see Meria." Adren said.

We continued deeper into the clan's hall, entering a small room. The decoration inside was sparse, composed of a Fusion MOA mounted on a wall above two crossed Prova shock batons. This clan had obviously been hunting Corpus.

"Have a seat, fresh meat." The Tenno sitting at the desk said. She was clad in a Zephyr warframe.

"Reporting as requested. You have questions?" I asked.

"No. Questions can be answered incorrectly. Instead, I have one final test in mind. Complete it, and your membership is assured. Fail it, and you're out. Any questions besides 'what's the test ma'am?'" Meria said, getting straight down to business.

"Will this test involve actual combat? If so, will I be able to obtain a ranged weapon, as I am unable to fabricate firearms?" I asked.

"Yes, this will be a combat test, and yes, you will have access to our basic set of weapons. The test itself is simple. We have an assignment at the inner terminus of the solar rail system, located around Mercury. You are to get in there, do what the situation requires, and get out. I'll be with you to save your ass if you get in too deep, and if you die, I'm the one recovering your corpse for dissection. Weapon-wise, you will be issued one, and that means only one, skana brand skana. You have a choice between one or two Lato pistols, a Lex heavy pistol, or a Sicarus burst pistol for a sidearm, and a choice of Braton AR or Strun shotgun for primary firearm. You don't get the fancy stuff until we see that its not a waste of credits giving it to you. Is that understood?" She asked.

"Yes Ma'am. When are we leaving?" I asked.

"Now. Follow me." Meria stood up and walked out of the room. I followed close behind. We stopped by the armory to pick out our loadouts. I grabbed a Braton assault rifle and a Sicarus burst pistol. The Skana was taken as well, but only as a formality. It meant that I only needed to fabricate one sword, as opposed to two, giving me more nanobots for use in the field. We left to the Hangar, and entered one of the spacecraft contained within. The door closed, and the craft shook as its engines propelled it out of the Dojo hangar.

* * *

**A/N: For those with questions about its classification as a crossover, this story's first few chapters will be set in the Warframe universe. It will transition into Mass Effect soon. Talos and his Paradox warframe belong to Celticreaper. Your OC could be next! Just put it in a review, or PM me. The history in this chapter is most likely NOT canon. It is just my interpretation of the little bits of lore given out inside the game. If you find any big plotholes, let me know and I will do my best to correct them. While constructing the history, I used the Stalker and Mag Prime's codex entries, bits of Dark Sector, and various boss quotes/info bits. Enjoy the second chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- Tenno**

The two Liset insertion craft detached from the Tenno transport, making their way towards the grineer galleon. Attaching themselves to its hull, powerful laser cutters opened two holes in the ship's hull, allowing the two warriors inside to enter.

"This mission's a simple smash and grab, emphasis on the smash. The Grineer have an object of some importance onboard this ship, and your job is to get it. Any questions?" Meria asked.

"Yes, one. What is the object in question?" I asked.

"I believe that it is a prototype Grineer power source for use in their vehicles. I don't know how big it is, but we're leaving with it in hand." Meria replied. "Now get going. I will be watching."

Meria then used her Zephyr to jump off into parts unknown, leaving me alone. I readied my Braton and proceeded deeper into the ship.

* * *

BANG BANG BANG

Another Grineer fell, riddled with bullets. The Grineer were not the most tactically sound soldiers, simply rushing at me guns blazing. The few that came close enough fell to my swords. The smarter Grineer that stayed back and attempted to snipe me with their Grakata SMGs died to bursts from my Sicarus pistol. From what I could see so far, it amazed me that the Grineer ever managed to defeat the ancient Tenno, much less take over a good portion of the Origin system!

Bypassing another lock, I proceeded into the room where the objective was stored, and my musings on Grineer supremacy were cut short.

"Uh, Meria? We have a problem." I said into the comm.

"Yes? What is it?" She responded.

"The objective... you may want to come take a look at this." I said, as the objective loomed ahead of me. The Grineer had not only built a new power source, they had installed it into a tank as well. Said tank was walking on four legs, and was looking very displeased with the Tenno in front of it, namely me.

BOOM!

Its main gun fired, aiming directly for me. Apparently, the Grineer inside was either too stupid or too apathetic to know that he was firing an artillery caliber gun inside a cramped spaceship. The shell left a sizeable hole in the floor, and would have reduced me to a fine red mist had I still been in that particular area. However, I had already jumped on top of the vehicle, ready to disable it through sword strikes to the engine. Then came the second unpleasant surprise of the day. Suddenly, hundreds of volts of electricity coursed through the vehicle's hull, forcing me to either jump off or fry. Jumping off the tank, I was back to square one, as the vehicle readied for a second shot. Moving out of the way as the cannon fired, I began to search for weak points. I found one in the form of the turret ring, which I could jam with nanobots, forcing the tank to turn to face me in order to shoot me. Closing in, I readied my gauntlets to project nanobot pellets. Firing, I smiled under my helmet as the nanobots flowed towards the turret ring, solidifying and preventing it from moving. I heard faint cursing in Grineer coming from the inside of the tank as the turret attempted to move, and failed. That solved the problem of the turret, but the electrified hull prevented me from destroying it... no, I could overcome that solution as well. Shifting my armor into a Volt configuration, I once again latched onto the tank. Once again, the Grineer inside attempted to electrocute me, but this time I was ready. Rather than cooking me inside my own armor, the electricity was redirected into a makeshift power cell inside my frame. The tank now powered my Warframe. I climbed to the top of the tank, where the entrance hatch was located. A single sword strike opened it, allowing me to electrocute the operator within. The tank fell silent, its hull still electrified, but otherwise useless.

"Nice job taking that thing out. I was worried that I would have to come down there and save your ass from the big bad tank. Not a bad move with that warframe change, by the way." Meria said, dropping in.

"Wait, so you knew that this thing was here?" I asked.

"One of the requirements of being a Tenno is to be able to adapt to any situation, regardless of original mission parameters." Meria said, as if reciting from a textbook. My response was cut off by the third unpleasant surprise of the day.

Suddenly the lights flickered and went out, cloaking the insides of the ship in blackness. A familiar hissing voice sounded inside my ears, the nanobots inside conveying the message.

"_Traitor... you have betrayed the empire, working for the Tenno scum! No punishment is too terrible, too horrifying for what you have done! Your purpose was to avenge their death, not join their killers! I come for you now. Pray that your gods have mercy on you, because I will not! You betrayed the empire, betrayed the Low Guardians, tearing them from their intended purpose! Your sentence is DEATH!"_

With that, I heard the distinct sound of the Stalker teleporting in.

"_Do not interfere, Tenno filth. This traitor needs to be disciplined."_ The Stalker said, trapping Meria inside a bubble of energy. As she tried to break out, the Stalker turned to me._  
_

"_Do you know why I plucked you from your home dimension? I thought that you would prove worthy of continuing the legacy of the Orokin, and that your knowledge of what you faced would allow you to pass my test. I was proven correct. You passed, where all others had failed. You were given a gift that would make you superior to all who dared oppose you. You could have been my apprentice, sworn to carry on my legacy, and you threw it all away to be with the Tenno. Do you know what they have done to the Orokin? They betrayed an empire that had shown them nothing but honor, plunging humanity into a war that killed billions for no reason! Now, I am all that remains of their magnificent empire, and I will avenge it." _The Stalker said, striking at me with his scythe, the black blade hissing through the air, lightning fast.

"The Orokin were monsters! They mass released the Infestation onto thousands of worlds, destroying entire races to create their armies! It is an honor to destroy what remains of them." I replied, blocking the blow with my skana, while using my other sword to counter.

"_The Orokin Empire was threatened with extinction, and when faced with such, any alternative is preferable. It was with a heavy heart that the Emperor ordered this, and those that were subjected to the Infestation did so gladly, knowing that they would die defending their homes and families! Their blood is on the hands of the Tenno, who started the terrible war that destroyed the Empire!"_ The Stalker replied, jumping back out of my counterattack's range, covering his retreat with a flurry of throwing knives.

"Is that what the Orokin told you? I have the combined memories of the Infestation that prove otherwise. I have seen massive Orokin fleets covering entire worlds with the Technocyte, their unfeeling captains laughing as the people below are assimilated in agony! How could anyone willingly follow such monsters?" I said, rushing towards the Stalker, swords at ready. However, before I could strike, the Stalker swept my legs out from under me with a single blow from his scythe.

"_Fool. When the Orokin augmented me, they made me more powerful than you could ever imagine! Stronger men have tried to defeat me, and all that remains of them is their blood on my blade! Prepare to join them! Prepare to DIE!" _The Stalker screamed, raising his scythe to deliver a killing blow. I barely rolled out of the way in time to avoid it, the cruel blade burying itself deep into the Grineer ship's floor.

"The Orokin considered you nothing but a tool. Their augments contained a control device, turning you into their pet! They would have used you, then cast you aside when you outlived your usefulness to them. Even now, you still remain loyal to a long dead race. Their total control over you is clear as day. You are nothing but a puppet of the Orokin, dancing on strings pulled by the Empire's echoes." I said as the Stalker prepared for another blow. The result was stunning. The armored figure suddenly faltered, bringing the scythe down to its side, clutching its head.

_"No... impossible... my mind..."_ I heard, coming from the Stalker himself. He was fighting the control implant, although the result remained to be seen. Then, the purpose returned to the Stalker's movements.

"_Your words are like poisoned honey, worming their way into my mind, weakening my resolve! Consider yourself fortunate that I must crush the rebellious part of my mind now. We will meet again, traitor, and next time, you will die at my blade!"_ The Stalker then disappeared, the ship's lights flickering on again. I walked up to the orb that Meria was trapped in. Before I reached it, the Orb finally broke under the Tenno clan leader's assault. She looked at me, and said two words.

"Explain, now."

"How much did you hear?" I asked.

"Everything. You are from another dimension, correct? How did you know of the Stalker before he brought you here? Start explaining now, and don't bother attempting to fabricate some half baked lie. I want the truth about your origins. Clanmates cannot keep secrets from one another." Meria said. Her tone of voice suggested that if I did not start talking now, I may very well end up on a dissection table in the Dojo labs.

"Very well. As you know already, I am from another dimension, from a time before Hayden Tenno." I began, noticing her stiffen slightly as I said the name. "I was brought here by a strange void key that spontaneously activated when I made physical contact with it."

"Did you know what a Void Key was before it sent you here?" She asked, now curious.

"Yes." I responded.

"How? Did your humanity discover the Void early on?"

"No. However, truth is stranger than fiction. The Stalker, the Grineer, the Tenno, everything in this dimension, is considered a part of a video game in mine. I happen to have been a player of said video game, so I recognized the Stalker when I saw him."

This caused Meria to break out in laughter. "You certainly are creative with your lies, human. Now I want the real truth."

"That was the real truth. Are you familiar with the multiverse theory?" I asked.

"No. I have never heard of that." Meria replied.

"The multiverse theory is simple. Every possible future, every unique thought, has its own universe. For every choice made, there are new universes formed around the untaken alternatives. For all I know, my existence here could very well be the result of some writer in yet another universe!" I said, finishing my most likely horribly misinformed explanation.

When Meria did not seem convinced, I decided to gamble a bit. "These events should occur at some time, if they have not already." I then listed off the various ingame events, such as the Fomorian fleet's construction, the deployment of the Cicero toxin, and Alad V's experiments on the Infestation. Meria was still not convinced. Apparently, these events had not yet occured. "What about you 'Tearing the Low Guardians from their intended purpose?'" She asked.

"After the Stalker augmented me, I had a delightful conversation with the infestation's hive mind and convinced them to stop their attempts to assimilate everything in the known universe." I replied. Meria just looked at me as if I had gone insane.

"We can discuss this later. For now, let's get to extraction, this ship feels like its gonna fall apart any second now." she said, before heading towards the exit point.

"What about the clan membership? Did I pass the test?" I asked, following her.

"Yes, you did. Your combat abilities are good enough, at least. Consider yourself a Disciple of Clan Shadow." Meria answered. Then, we reached the extraction point, and headed back to the Dojo.

* * *

I had indeed passed the test. When I returned to the Dojo, I was assigned a trainer. Lucanus was a Nekros user, who had a personality quite the opposite of what his choice of frame suggested. While most Nekros users were dark, moody, and wrote bad poetry, Lucanus was different. He always seemed to be smiling underneath his helmet, and his patience made him a very good trainer. Finally, his poetry was actually readable. After training was complete, I would join a team, mine having already been selected. It was composed of Adren, his Trinity frame making him an excellent healer and support, Eria, an Ember user, and Talos, who used a frame not present in-game. His Paradox frame was designed to manipulate space-time, allowing him to phase shift into intangibility or to create multiple clones of himself. All I had to do to join them was pass the test at the end of training. The typical training period took ten years.

* * *

My first lesson began the next day with me meeting Lucanus in one of the training simulator rooms. Immediately after I entered it, a simulation of an endless Grineer assault began. I barely had time to form my armor and swords before the first Butchers were in melee range. The next five minutes were composed of me charging and eviscerating the multitude of simu-grineer coming at me, a horde that was slowly increasing in strength. While I was fighting butchers and lancers at the 1 minute mark, by the time 5 minutes had passed I was being swarmed by bombards and napalms, with a few heavy gunners thrown in. Eventually, I was knocked to the ground by a grineer roller, who were just as annoying in the simulator as they were ingame, before being taken out by combined fire from several Napalms. When the simulator deemed me thoroughly dead, the simulation ended, leaving me in a dark room, lit only by a few lights in the ceiling.

"Not bad kid. Most of the operatives we train here don't last that long on their first run." Came a voice from behind me. I whirled around, to see Lucanus behind me. The angular form of his Nekros frame a stark contrast to the light coming in from the open doorway.

"However, there were several flaws in your technique, chief among them being the fact that you did not use your nanobots to assist you. I have seen what you can do with them, and they would have helped you immensely." It was true, I never used my augmentations, partially because I didn't know what would happen with them in the simulator, and partially because I had no time to think in between attacking and blocking, and nanobot manipulation required constant thought to direct them properly.

"However, based on your performance today, I have no doubts that you will make an excellent Tenno after we are done. Now to begin your training proper." He said, leading me into a training room, full of all sorts of equipment.

"Choose a melee weapon, and face me." He said. Thus began my training as a Tenno.

* * *

**Ten years later**

I knelt before my master, weapon at my side. I was finally ready. If I passed this test, I would be able to join the ranks of the Tenno. If I failed, I would be forced to redo all ten years of training that I had just gone through.

"You ready kid?" Lucanus asked.

"Yes sir." I replied, standing, Orthos at the ready. I had chosen to be trained in the use of the Orthos staff, as the twin bladed staff had been a favorite of mine ingame. Lucanus did the same, raising his Galatine sword. A gong sounded, and the test began. In order to pass, I either had to survive untouched for one hour, or get past my opponent's guard and land a blow. Since I did not possess the stamina required for one solid hour of fighting, I decided to go for the latter option. As soon as the test began, I stepped forward, twirling my weapon. Warframe abilities were not allowed. This was a test of weapon skill alone. I swatted aside the first sword blow to come at me, countering with a stab of my own, which was likewise blocked. Not letting him recover from my first strike, I leapt into action, unleashing a flurry of chopping blows, intending to break his guard through sheer volume of incoming strikes. Slowly, I forced him back towards the wall, my staff spinning the whole time. Then, he countered. I was forced to stop attacking in order to attend to a strike coming in from my left. Deflecting it, I barely had time to recover before a stabbing blow came towards me, aimed at my head. Ducking under it, I feinted a high slash, while using my leg to sweep my enemy's legs out from under him. The ploy worked, and I quickly delivered a finishing blow. The test was over. I had passed.

"Congratulations. Consider yourself a full Tenno, Matthew. " Lucanus said, standing up from the prone position he had been occupying.

"Thanks. I passed because you were a good teacher. I owe you for taking the trouble to train me." I replied.

"You were a good student as well. Congratulations." He replied, before removing something from one of the pockets of his Warframe, pinning it to my shoulder. The holo-emitter lit up, displaying the insignia of Clan Shadow, a clan of which I was now a member.

"Congratulations, now report to the armory and pick out your loadout. Then meet with your team in the shuttlebay. We've found a Corpus vessel near Jupiter that is transporting some kind of new security proxy prototype. Your job is to make sure that it never reaches its testing ground." Meria said, walking up to the two of us.

"Yes ma'am." I responded, moving for the armory. Inside, there were a variety of weapons, from all factions, for me to choose from. While the more advanced weapons from the clan laboratories ingame were not present, all the basic ones were there. I grabbed a Soma machine gun and and Angstrum pistol, both of which were favorites of mine ingame, and ran to the shuttlebay, my armor flowing into being as I ran. Now that I had my Orthos, I did not need to fabricate swords for my own use, giving me more nanobots for more advanced manuvers.

Entering the hangar, I was greeted by the rest of my team, already suited up.

"Its about time you finished up basic." Adren said, greeting me. The two of us had become friends while I had been training, often sparring in our spare time.

"So what do we know about this new security proxy?" I asked.

"Next to nothing, aside from it being some new type of MOA." Eria replied. That got my attention. A new type of MOA might mean that this universe's equivalent of the Fusion MOA event could be about to take place.

"It should not be a problem then. The Corpus are the ones building them, so they probably cut corners in its design." I replied as my team got into the transport, picking out a Liset for our use in infiltration. The Liset was a small stealth shuttle, designed to carry one Tenno into combat. Laser cutters allowed it to breach even the most thickly armored warship hulls, allowing the Tenno inside to carry out their mission. However, Lisets lacked range, forcing Tenno to rely on larger carrier vessels to move them from planet to planet, the Lisets themselves only being used in the final run. The carrier we were using shook slightly as it took off, taking me on my first mission as a proper Tenno.

* * *

I was right, there were fusion MOAs onboard. Two hundred of them, to be exact, all in varying states of 'Search and Exterminate all Tenno'. The ship itself was the new proxy's testing ground, set up to test the new MOAs' effectiveness against Tenno. They were not counting on me, as I knew exactly how they operated. The drones they launched were a nasty surprise, but the Corpus cut corners in the targeting systems for the MOA's main laser gun. The laser was powerful, capable of slicing through shields in a matter of seconds, but its targeting system was flawed, forcing the robot to take time re-adjusting its aim, time that allowed us to run rings around them and destroy them. A quick strike to its top region prevented the drones from launching, allowing us to kill the parent MOA with little trouble. Talos in particular was good at taking them out, his warframe's phase shifting ability allowed for him to act as a distraction, causing the MOAs to focus on him, while the rest of us took them out. His attempts to ride the MOA, however, were less successful.

Eventually, we reached the ship's reactor, overloaded it, and got out, watching the ship explode from our transport's windows.

When we returned, Meria was waiting for me in the hangar.

"Report to my office immediately. We have much to discuss."

Apparently, she had heard of the Fusion MOAs, and decided to take another look at my origins.

* * *

As soon as we were behind closed doors, Meria began to ask questions on what is to come. I told her as much as I could, explaining everything I knew about upcoming events such as the Fomorian fleet and the Grineer colony on Phobos. She listened to it all, asking me to repeat certain parts, namely the process of obtaining critical components for completing objectives.

"So the Grineer will attack the Corpus at Gradivus, and both sides will ask the Tenno for support?" She asked.

"Yes. Supporting either side will have its benefits and downfalls. Supporting the Corpus will allow us to severely weaken the Grineer, but this will come at the cost of us losing the Tenno cryopods that Alad V has secured for his Zanuka project. If we support the Grineer, we can rescue the Tenno in those cryopods, but the Grineer grow dangerously powerful. Both sides will offer us very large payments for fighting for them, composed of credits, resources, and even a few weapon blueprints." I responded.

"How did it end?" Meria asked.

"It ended in a Grineer victory, although enough players supported the Corpus that the Grineer suffered heavy losses."

"What would you recommend that we do?"

"I say that we play both sides, offering Tenno support to both factions. By altering the amount of support that we give to each faction, we can attempt to force a pyrrhic victory."

"Good. Now what happened afterward?"

"Alad V's failure to win the war against the Grineer caused him to fall out of grace with the Corpus board of directors. However, should his Zanuka project be successful, he would be able to make a bid for the position of CEO. Frohd Bek, the current CEO, will attempt to stop this from happening in order to maintain his hold on power. He will send in a fleet to oust Alad from his gas city on Jupiter, but Alad will be able to manipulate the infestation into attacking Bek's ships. Bek will then enlist the aid of the Tenno in order to clear the infestation from his warships, and we will do this in order to rescue a captive Warframe."

This Q and A session continued for some time, finally ending with me describing the last event to occur in the game before I left. Then, Meria asked me a strange question, unrelated to our conversation's topic.

"Do you ever want to return to your home dimension?" She asked.

"Why do you ask?" I responded, not knowing the answer.

"You would be safe there, away from all this fighting and senseless war. Why stay here?"

"I have nothing to go back to. It has been ten years, all my relatives and friends have most likely mourned my passing and gone on with their lives. The Technocytes inside my body only complicate things further. Besides, what would it look like if I left? We Tenno need every able body in order to have any hope of winning this war. My unique capabilities can make me a formidable asset, and my leaving would deprive you of it. This universe is my home now, and I will stay and fight for it." I replied. "Besides, the only person who can probably send me back happens to be my greatest enemy, so I doubt that I can just waltz up to wherever the Stalker lives and say 'Hey, can you send me back please? I'm tired of this universe.'" I said, meaning every word.

"Very well. You may go get some rest. Fighting all those fusion MOAs must have been tiring." Meria said, dismissing me. I turned and left, eager to get some sleep.

* * *

**Twenty two years later (32 years post dimensional shift)**

I smiled as the Fomorian Dreadnought in orbit around Mercury detonated, my squadmates watching from the transport windows. The coming of the grineer superships was a surprise to most Tenno, excluding me and my clan leader. While the other clans were struggling to find a way to destroy the monstrous warships, my clan was finding out exactly what kind of corruptor makes the ships go boom. It was while looking for corruptors that I had discovered exactly how the Infestation had changed. Massive parkour courses full of infested to fight, each designed to push us to our limit, were constructed by the Infestation. If we managed to complete them, no mean feat, as they required the Tenno participating to think differently, we would gain access to both corruptors for use against the Fomorian threat, as well as various bits of exotic technology. The rest of the Tenno learned of the Infestation's sudden change in nature while doing these courses, although Meria already had a small inkling of what was responsible. During this time, I gained a reputation as a 'Stalker security blanket,' as I was one of the few Tenno able to reliably defeat him.

Clan Shadow led the Tenno in the amount of Fomorians destroyed, having blown up three, while only one other clan, clan Specter, even managed to destroy one. While many clans were researching various 'Wonder weapons' that could destroy Fomorians, we were happily applying corruptors to their cores, and watching the explosions. In addition, the amount of Infested technology retrieved jump started our clan's research and development division, allowing us to begin work on weapons based on infested biomatter, such as the Torid and the Phage. Shadow went from a mid-range run of the mill clan to one of the most advanced ones, all thanks to my contribution and foresight.

* * *

**Six years later (38 years post dimensional shift)**

Another Grineer ship went up in a ball of blue-white fire, commemorating my sixtieth birthday. I had aged wonderfully, or rather, not aged at all, most likely a side effect of my augmentations. In celebration, my teammates hosted a small party on the way back, and by party I mean that we each drank about a bottle of Grineer Beer, taken from the destroyed ships' captain's private reserve. Grineer Beer was commonly thought to be the first, last, and only good thing to come out of the Grineer empire, being one of the few alcohols strong enough for Tenno to enjoy. It was rumored that Lieutenant Lech Kril, the leader of the Grineer on Ceres, had discovered the perfect method of brewing said beer, but despite all our efforts, we could not locate the production facility, though not from lack of effort.

"So how old is our little baby turning today?" Talos asked, beer glass in hand.

"Sixty." I responded. I was extremely young compared to most Tenno, who ranged from Three hundred to over a thousand years old, with the average life expectancy being two to three thousand years.

"Do you have your diaper on securely?" Talos asked. He was the kind of guy that, no matter how much you wanted to hit him, you couldn't, either because he never quite crossed the line, or, in Talos' case, was capable of phase shifting so that your fists passed through him.

By now I was a mid ranked Tenno, experienced, but still a few centuries away from master. However, I was extremely high ranked inside my clan, being the highest ranked strategist present. My performance in the field had given me the nickname of 'The Good Stalker', due to me utilizing much the same combat tactics as my black armored nemesis. I considered this as I watched the grineer ship finish exploding, the fires from its hull slowly dying away.

* * *

**Twelve years later (50 years post dimensional shift)**

Operation Arid Fear was concluded, with my clan on top again. Our knowledge gave us a head start in locating the Corpus ship hidden in the void, allowing us to capture the scouts and wrest the location of the Phobos colony away from them before the rest of the clans even knew where the Corpus ship was. Our clan conducted the first raid on Phobos, solidifying our location in the top five clans of the Tenno. Other clans were starting to look on us with suspicion, as the speed in which we managed to discover the Grineer colony seemed impossible without already knowing exactly what we needed to do. We had already discovered several spies from clans Specter and Dark Moon, attempting to gain access to our 'Incredible intelligence network'. The current rumor was that we had managed to convince a member of the Corpus board of directors to defect, which actually was not far off the mark, as we had made contact with Darvo, who, as I already knew, was Frohd Bek's son. This gave us access to many prototype Corpus weapons, such as the Cestra rotary plasma pistol and the Amprex lightning gun. In return for access to top of the line Corpus gear, we kept Darvo's competitors from succeeding, as well as thwarting a Stalker attack on him. Eventually, when Bek began to get suspicious, we got Darvo out of the Corpus, giving our clan access to a significant amount of contacts within the megacorporation, leftovers of Darvo's mercantile empire.

* * *

**Fifty Eight years later (108 years post dimensional shift)**

The last Corpus push for control of Mars ended in defeat, the Grineer's tenno allies making short work of the battle damaged fleet. In the various battles of the Gradivus war, both sides were supported by Tenno warriors. However, Shadow was unique in that it played both sides of the war, rather than commit to either one. This netted us a significant amount of wealth in battle pay from the various battles we participated in. While we were unable to fight in every battle of the war, we managed to make the most of what we could get. The hunt that ensued shortly after for Alad V ended in us rescuing the owner of the Valkyr frame. A scarred, traumatized Tenno, who did not even remember her name due to what the Corpus did to her, was recovered, joining our clan as a result. Due to her unstable nature, which more than once ended in serious injuries in the Dojo, she was paired with an experienced Ash warframe in order to learn discipline and self control. The training produced a fierce warrior, a master of the Tranquil Cleave style of Nikana fighting. While the Nikana was normally a weapon reserved for Tenno Masters, she was a special case due to the weapon being found alongside her, suggesting at a high ranking past in the Tenno order. She became an extremely feared warrior, someone you never want to anger. And unfortunately for them, the Corpus had incurred her wrath.

* * *

**Thirty three years later (141 years PDS)**

I was called down to the clan research labs one day, out of the blue. The scientist who greeted me sounded very excited, meaning that some new discovery had been made. From then on, my day rapidly became better and better. It turns out that several of the clan's scientists were interested in my ability to fabricate almost any warframe, even if I could not power said frame. These scientists had. for the past thirty years, been working on a way to overcome the disadvantages of my condition, namely the inability to use warframe powers without my hand on a power conduit. They had come up with 'Blank Slate'. Blank Slate was, at first glance, an unspecialized warframe, without any abilities whatsoever. However, as the science team explained, the Blank Slate was designed around the extensive information they had on my augmentations, with specialized channels allowing for me to manipluate nanobots through the frame, while at the same time, providing an integrated power source. While the frame used a significant amount of Morphics and Gallium in its production, the result was a frame that I could use without sacrificing my nanobot abilities, while at the same time allowing me to use the powers of almost any frame. The Orokin reactor powering it provided an adequate power source for combat abilities, while the frame itself came with a powerful shield generator, finally giving me one of my own. After some customization, namely tweaking its appearance to look more intimidating, I took it for a test drive on a Grineer galleon. The frame was a huge success, making me one of the most powerful individuals in the Tenno order.

* * *

**Sixty seven years later (208 years PDS)**

The beginning of the Cicero crisis gave the Tenno something to do again other than raid Corpus and Grineer ships and attempt to win various prizes kept by the Infestation (How they managed to get ahold of THAT many warframes is anyone's guess). Our clan already had significant amounts of Cicero antitoxin in store, allowing us to begin work on disrupting the toxin generators immediately. However, it was during this event that I began to develop a relationship with Eria, our squad's Ember. It started when several Grineer AAA batteries shot down our Lisets, forcing Talos and Adren to complete the mission without us. For the next two weeks, the two of us were forced to survive inside the overgrown jungles of Earth, eating Kubrow meat and fighting off the occasional saber-toothed tiger. The latter species began attacking us due to our supply of meat, and continued to attack us due to me having taken one of their cubs from the nests that they built up in the giant trees of Earth. Stewie, as I decided to call him, was a faithful companion to me for the rest of his life. All future saber cats owned by me would be named Stewie in his honor.

During our forced vacation to Earth's jungles, Eria and I began to realize our love for each other, first as friends, and later, by the time we were finally rescued, as lovers. We trekked through Earth's forests together, with baby Stewie tagging along, before we finally reached a Grineer outpost with a communication device strong enough to contact the Tenno. The private celebration we had in our quarters after we returned home cemented our bond, and I proposed marriage three years later, with her accepting. It was then that I told her the secret about my origins, about how I was from a different universe, and knew about most major events that would occur in the future. Her response was simple: "I don't care. You're here now, doing your best to assist all of us, and that's what matters." It was then that I knew I had made the right choice in marrying her.

* * *

**Forty two years later (250 years PDS)**

I was promoted to Master in a short ceremony, nothing too extravagant. It was hardly even a ceremony at all, only being finalized in the Dojo. I had just destroyed one of the Fomorian dreadnoughts being rebuilt under Project Tethra, the ship being destroyed in record time. Unknown to me, I was being watched by several Tenno who were judging me to see if I was worthy of promotion. I passed their test with flying colors, and was ceremonially gifted my Nikana onboard the transport home. I got all the perks of being a master, including my own personal ship, containing a full foundry module and cargo bay, as well as a license to go almost anywhere I wanted in the system. I only needed to report to the Tenno high council (of which Meria was now a part of), and to the Lotus herself. I commemorated the event by blowing up another Fomorian nearing completion, causing Vay Hek himself to put a significant bounty on my head. Several assassins came after me, although they were amateurs looking to make their name known. The true masters knew to keep their heads down when it came to Tenno, as not even the best freelance merc could hope to compete with a trained Tenno warrior, much less a Tenno master. Soon, the efforts of the Tenno ended project Tethra, forcing Vay Hek into hiding. While we Tenno managed to track him down, and even kill him several times, he, like all high ranking Grineer, would only be cloned back to life. Thankfully Grineer neural degeneration prevented them from learning from their mistakes, making killing them rather easy, as they would do the same thing over and over again. On a side note, we finally found the Grineer Beer brewery on Ceres, the extensive factory being cloaked with the best stealth drives the Grineer could afford to buy from the Corpus. Soon, we not only had the recipe, but also an extensive map of shipping routes on which alcohol carrying ships traveled. I kept a few bottles in storage for special occasions.

* * *

**One hundred and twelve years later (362 years PDS)**

The past hundred years wrapped up the remaining events that I had told Meria about. By then, my squadmates had begun adding to their inventories with various prime weapons and warframes discovered in the void. I, however, was less enthusiastic about expanding my own arsenal. My Blank Slate frame was enough for me, and the only prime weapon I was interested in acquiring was the Orthos prime. I had since acquired its components, but the method of assembly continued to elude me, leaving the weapon incomplete. However, several Grineer ships had been detected while attempting to enter the void, possibly attempting an expedition to one of the towers. The Tenno moved to stop them, my squad among them.

* * *

The Grineer galleon had just exited the void, its cargo hold full of valuables. Four Liset insertion craft approached the hull of the Grineer ship, their stealth drives keeping them hidden from enemy sensors. Attaching themselves to the hull, powerful laser cutters allowed the Tenno inside to enter. Our objective: clear the ship of all hostiles, allowing for our teams to recover any Orokin artifacts stored within. None of us knew how wrong this mission would go.

* * *

**A/N: Here's the next update! The next story to be updated will be 'When Civilizations meet', with the rachni encounter already planned out. Enjoy this chapter, as it is my longest one yet.**

**EDIT: I forgot to put this into my original Author's notes. Lucanus is vendoban1's OC, while the nameless Valkyr is S33KR-HUN's OC. Also, thanks to Bundlejumper for linking this story in his latest chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- Repetition**

My team exited their Liset insertion craft, weapons at ready. My Sentinel drone hovered over my shoulder, the drone being of my own design, mounting a Corpus Spectra laser cutter, as well as a Banshee cloaking device. The rumble of Grineer machinery, as well as the stink of various byproducts, filled our noses, causing us to turn off our olfactory filters. We proceeded down the hallways of the massive vessel, looking for Grineer to kill. We would attempt to kill as many Grineer as possible using stealth tactics, before resorting to open combat after we were detected. Had this been a Corpus ship, we would have immediately gone to the security proxy control room, where I would assume control of all proxies in the ship. However, in this case, the primitive Grineer systems worked in their favor, forcing us to take a more manual approach.

Entering the central control room, I was surprised to find it empty, just like the rest of the ship was. It was as if the entire ship's crew had just vanished into thin air, as we had not encountered any Grineer, not even a solitary Butcher, so far.

"Think that they saw us coming and abandoned ship?" Adren asked.

"If they knew enough to add escape pods, I'm sure they would have!" Talos replied.

I, however, was more focused on the Grineer terminals lining the control bridge. One of the terminals was blinking red, showing that it had a message incoming. I opened it, and the first unpleasant surprise of the day happened.

"Greetings, Tenno! I was wondering how long it would take for you to finally find one of my ships. You had to develop brains sometime." The voice of councilor Vay Hek came roaring out of every speaker on the ship. "You fools have bumbled right into one of my traps, like flies to honey! Now, feel the wrath of my newest project. Enjoy yourselves, Tenno, for this will be the last time you ever will! Now DIE!"

As if on cue, hundreds of panels slid open on the walls, each one revealing a Grineer soldier. Vay Hek's voice came again.

"Now, Tenno, feel the wrath of project Prime! No longer are you the only ones bearing the secrets of the Orokin! All Grineer primes onboard this ship, KILL THEM! Every one of you who kills a Tenno will be permitted to keep its skull as a trophhy!"

Every single one of the newly revealed Grineer opened fire. However, instead of their usual primitive rifles, these Grineer carried Orokin pulse lasers. My squad's shields went down fast. We barely got into cover in time. All the while, Vay Hek was laughing over the intercom, most likely watching us through the ship's security network.

I watched as the cover we hunkered down behind slowly began to glow red from the heat of hundreds of laser bolts striking it. Soon, it would melt, leaving us out in the open.

"Talos! Open up a dimensional tear in the middle of their group, and pray that something mean comes through!" I screamed. One of the powers of his paradox frame was the ability to open temporary portals into the darker spaces of the void, allowing the twisted abominations inside to enter our universe for a short period of time.

Our prayers were answered, as a shapeless black mist exited the tear, quickly enveloping several Grineer. I could hear them scream as they were brutally torn apart by the thousands of mouths contained withing the constantly shapeshifting void demon. Void demons were used as terror weapons by the Sentients during the Sentient war. Only Tenno were capable of routinely defeating them. Gurgling in murderous glee, the demon charged at the rest of the Grineer, who desperately attempted to kill it, only to be reduced to a bloody pulp covering the bridge's floor. Soon, the bridge was clear of Grineer. Then, the void demon turned to us. Hissing a challenge, it surged towards us, faster than the eye could blink. Fortunately, we had been fighting alongside Talos long enough to know exactly what to do when a void demon charges you. Channeling energy into our respective weapons, we faced it down, slicing into its formless body. The aberration screamed in pain, its form dissolving into nothingness.

Shifting my frame into a Nekros configuration, I reconstructed what was left of the Grineer, turning the bloody pulp into perversions of what it was in life.

The thud of more footsteps signaled incoming Grineer. Two prime butchers stormed into the room, twin Orokin hatchets in their hands. However, despite the quality of their weaponry, they were unskilled, making them easy prey.

"Tenno, you have new orders. Get to extraction immediately, we have one of our captured Corpus ships in the area ready to destroy this ship and all evidence of project Prime." Came the voice of the Lotus over our comms.

Our team began to make a run for extraction, Eria leaving behind a trail of fire to slow our enemies down, along with a pair of Paradox clones from Talos. My reanimated Grineer joined in the delaying action. However, there were more Grineer waiting for us at the extraction point, leading to the second unpleasant surprise of the day.

We had just reached the extraction site, the Lisets being barely twenty meters ahead of us. Several Grineer were hot on our heels, one of which was a prime Bombard. We were barely ten meters away when the Grineer rounded the corner. A bright streak of light showed the path of a Grineer rocket, highlighting its trajectory as it sped from the barrel of the bombard's Orokin rocket launcher. It slammed into one of the Lisets, blowing a hole clean through it, the craft detaching. Atmosphere began to bleed out of the room, before a panel slid over the opening, sealing it shut. Now, there were four of us, and only three escape craft.

"Talos, Adren, Eria, Go! I'll cover you!" I shouted, shooting the bombard before he could launch another rocket.

"Are you insane? They'll tear you apart!" Adren shouted back.

"And they won't do the same to you! Now go!" I screamed. Talos and Adren reluctantly entered their escape craft, the shuttles escaping, the holes left in the hull being repaired by sliding panels. This left only Eria, defiantly staring me down, all the while raining fireballs into the midst of the enemies entering the extraction room.

"Eria, that means you too." I said in a softer voice.

"Hell no! I'm not leaving you to die in here!" She responded. Judging by her voice, she was biting back tears.

"Eria, I'll come back to you. I don't care if I have to claw my way out of the deepest pit of hell, I will come back to you." I said. "Now get in that shuttle, and get out of here. My personal craft will pick me up. ETA 20 minutes." I said, calling my personal transport to my location.

"No. I'm staying here with you. If you're so determined to die, I'll die with you." She said.

My response was to pick her up, and push her, kicking and screaming, into the shuttle. Gently touching my helmet to hers, I whispered: "I will come back to you. Now get out of here."

I activated the remote extraction system, sending Eria out of the ship, inside the safety of her shuttle. Then, I turned to the Grineer horde coming for me.

"Come and get me you cloned sons of bitches!" I screamed, charging towards them, sword raised.

If this had been a movie back in my home dimension, I would have taken ten, maybe twenty of them down, before I was cut down myself, the camera showing my body falling in slow motion to the ground while epic music played. This was not a movie. I was a highly trained Tenno master, armed with some of the best weapons my order had to offer. My enemies were genetically defective clones, armed with powerful weapons they didn't fully understand. The long Orokin weapons were nearly useless in close quarters, with just as many Grineer falling to friendly fire as they did to my Nikana. Soon, the Grineer horde was reduced to an isolated few. Then came the third unpleasant surprise of the day.

The lights flickered, and one of the heavy prime Grineer dropped dead, a neat hole in its chest. They flickered again, and another Grineer dropped. Two flickers later, all Grineer were dead.

_"Traitor... You still are strong. A lesser Tenno would have fallen to these cloned dogs. However, your judgement is at hand. You have nowhere to run, nobody to help you. You are mine at last, Traitor. Your death will be sweet. Once I cared to avenge the Orokin, but no more. The Orokin are dead, their spirits long gone. However, you remain. You, who foiled me time and time again. You, who betrayed me. You shall now meet your reckoning. Prepare to die!" _Came the voice of the Stalker.

Then, the lights flickered and went out, the black and red armored figure of my nemesis appearing in front of me. He threw a pair of knives at me, which I easily dodged. He rushed at me, scythe raised.

Nikana met scythe, the force of the blow causing pain to lance up my arm.

"Today it is you who finally meet your end. You have killed hundreds of my brethren, and nearly destroyed the balance that we work so hard to preserve! You are nothing but a monster, and as judge, jury, and executioner, I sentence you to death!" I responded, counterattacking with a strike of my own.

"_Fool. I have walked this world longer than you have existed. I have killed more than you can comprehend. You have been but a thorn in my side, to be inspected and destroyed. You are insignificant compared to me. Today, you discover exactly how weak you truly are."_ The Stalker said, blocking my blow.

"For all your talk of weakness, I have yet to see you defeat me. Instead of face me, you run like the little bitch you are, tail between your legs, whenever I face you! You are the weaker one here, too arrogant to know that your time as a monster has finally come to an end!" I shouted, blocking his counterattack.

The Stalker stepped back from my next strike. "_Enough. It is time to finish this, traitor. I will kill you, and then I will find the filth you call your wife, and kill her, slowly and painfully. I will relish her screams as she bleeds, I will enjoy bathing my blade in her blood. I will laugh as I present to her your severed head! Finally, I will split open her skull, ending her-" _

"ENOUGH!" I screamed, my nikana moving through the air, lightning fast, my enemy's scythe hissing towards me.

Pain shot through my body as my enemy's weapon met its mark, penetrating through armor and flesh alike. It was only thanks to my sub-dermal armor plating that it didn't go clean through my heart. However, my Nikana met its mark, slicing through the Stalker's flesh, rending through his armor, slicing him nearly in two. Thick, greyish-brown blood leaked from the death-wound, my own red blood mixing with it on the floor. The Stalker sank to the ground, most likely dead before he hit it. Meanwhile, my nanobots leapt into overdrive, slowly forcing the scythe out of the wound it caused, stopping the bleeding before I lost too much blood.

The sound of my personal Liset arriving was music to my ears. I limped towards it, dragging the Stalker's body, along with all his valuable equipment, with me. I would make sure that the monster was dead. The weapons were an added bonus.

The Liset removed itself from the Grineer Galleon, docking with my own personal ship. Pain continued to shoot through my body as I removed the Stalker's armor. now cleaved into two neat pieces. I took a look at my adversary, noting the twisted combination of flesh and technocyte. I dragged the corpse to the airlock, and watched as it was ejected, the void of space being a fitting grave for my adversary.

I walked to the comms terminal, and opened a channel to the Dojo.

"Ah. Matthew. It is good to know that you survived your ordeal on the Grineer warship." The voice of the Lotus sounded in my ears, competing with the pain for my attention.

"I encountered the Stalker again, during the final part of my mission. I ended the fight. The Stalker is dead." I said, gasping as pain continued to shoot through my body.

"That is excellent news! I will be sure to... wait. I am detecting an anomalous void signature at your location. Please confirm." The Lotus said. I looked around, my eyes falling on the Stalker's gear. Inside the pile was a single black and red void key.

"Lotus! I want you to send this message to Eria before I am forced out of this dimension!" I shouted urgently at the terminal. "Tell her that I am alive, and I will come back to her. Tell her that I am being forced into another dimensional shift. I will try my best to return here." I said.

"Yes. I wil- -ke su-" The Lotus' voice began to break up. The view outside my shuttle's window began to fluctuate from the black starry void of space, to that of a bright pink nebula. On the third fluctuation, I saw a massive five-armed shape in the distance.

"Tenn- d- -ou re- me?" The voice of the Lotus stuttered over the comms channel. It was the last I heard from her before the channel disconnected, and I was sent into yet another universe. My last thoughts before the transition knocked me out was 'Is that the Citadel?'. Then, everything went black.

* * *

In the void of space around the Origin system, a lone body floated. Twisted strands of nanobots had already begun to slowly re-attach the nearly severed lower half to its upper counterpart. Oxygen carrying nanites flooded the bloodstream, while pressure control bots kept the vaccum from boiling the blood and destroying the body. One of the body's arms moved, ever so slightly. A bubbling motion on the hand at the end of that arm revealed a black and red void key hidden just under the skin.

_Take me to your counterpart._

The silent order caused the key to begin to flash, energies pouring through it.

As the Stalker's body finished repairing itself, he allowed himself a smile, cold and sinister, before the key sent him across universes. Silent laughter filled the interdimensional void as the Stalker pursued his quarry. He no longer cared about the Tenno. All the Stalker wished to see was the broken and bleeding corpse of his traitorous enemy. All he wanted to hear was the hiss of his enemy's last breath.

The Stalker exited the void, looking at his surroundings. As the key had not been properly calibrated, he would appear in the same universe, but not in the same location. The Stalker saw black metal, which his nanobots told him was partially organic as well.

"Curious." The stalker said to himself, as he stood up, forming himself new weaponry and armor. A carapace of nanobots, along with a new arsenal of weaponry, formed around him.

"I might say the same question." Said an odd, dual tone voice behind him. The Stalker turned around, slowly, and saw a strange alien standing behind him. Its skin was covered in plates, and a long fringe protruded from the back of its head.

"And who might you be?" The Stalker asked.

"Saren Arterius." The alien replied.

* * *

I awoke onboard my ship to a strange communication.

I looked around and saw the face of a Turian, an honest to god Turian, on my vidscreen.

"Serina. Run a translation program." I said, ordering my ship's VI.

"Acknowledged." It responded. Moments later, the transmission became understandable.

"Attention unidentified spacecraft. This is your last warning. Please respond to this transmission and identify your ship, or you will be boarded." The voice of the Turian filled the small craft.

"I apologize for the delay, sir. My ship experienced a total systems failure while testing a new form of FTL." I responded, thinking fast.

"I need your name and your ship's registration number." The Turian responded.

"I was testing for a Terminus based company. This ship is unregistered." I replied.

"Unregistered spacecraft, you are to prepare to be impounded. Do not move from your position, and are to prepare for boarding." The Turian captain said.

"I think not." was my simple response.

"If you attempt to resist, we will open fire. Your ship does not register to have any kinetic barriers, and is too small to withstand fire from a Turian cruiser." Came the response.

"Heh... Just try to shoot this craft down. If you can land a shot, I might even comply to your demmands." I said, cutting the comm link. "Serina, activate the cloaking device. Get us onto the space station." I said, as the Turian cruiser closed in.

"Acknowledged." Was the VI's simple answer. Less than a second later, the ship disappeared from view, before accelerating towards the Citadel. A spike of pain alerted me to the fact that I was not in fighting condition. I ordered the VI to park my ship a kilometer away from the space station while I used the onboard medical station. As the nanites washed over me, repairing the damage that my internal nanobots were unable to repair, or repaired too crudely, I considered the situation. I had played Mass Effect 1 and 2, but never found the time to play the third. However, from what I knew, I would be up to my ass in reapers soon, as my lifespan would allow me to live until the invasion, no matter how long it took to arrive. My choices were: Attempt to return to my home dimension, try to remain hidden from the invasion, or fight the Reapers. I chose the third option without hesitation. A Tenno never ran from a fight for the right cause, and the Reapers were a threat that needed to be destroyed before they found out about interdimensional travel. My best hope would be to wait around for Commander Shepard to come around, but that could take days or decades. As the medical devices finished their treatment, I ordered the VI to take me down to the citadel under cloak. I needed to figure out the situation.

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know, This came before the Civilizations update. Rest assured, the update is in the works, already past the 1k words mark. However, the urge to write this was too strong to resist, so here it is. Enjoy!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- Orientation**

The cloaked Liset detached from the tenno craft, moving towards the massive space station nearby. It slowed, coming to a hover several meters above a deserted area of one of the Citadel wards. I dropped out, clad in my blank slate frame. I was armed with a phage corrosive beam gun, a pair of twin Cestra rotary plasma pistols, and my trusty Nikana, picking this loadout due to the Mass Effect shields only working against projectile weaponry, and the weapons I picked fired energy. I shifted my frame to a Loki configuration, cloaking myself as I went to complete my first objective- Get some clothes. I needed to blend in, and wearing a suit of hyper-advanced armor just might make me stick out a little. My sentinel hovered next to me, keeping me cloaked while I looked for a clothing store, preferably one that didn't sell those ugly brown clothing I saw many civilians wear in ME. I was in luck. Decloaking outside of one such shop, startling the Asari greeter, I walked in. Instantly, all eyes were on me. The store itself was not particularly full, meaning that there were only five or six customers inside, as opposed to one on the presidium, which could have hundreds of upper class Asari inside.

"C-can I help you s-sir?" Came the timid voice of the greeter.

"Yes. Do you have anything in my size?" I replied. I had no interest in robbing them.

"Um... let me take your measurements..." She said, scanning me with an omni tool. I needed to get myself one. Meanwhile, out of the corner of my eye, I saw yet another asari (I must have landed in an Asari area of the wards) quickly press a few buttons on her own omni tool. Minutes later, I heard the sound of a C-sec patrol car landing outside.

"Excuse me, I think that C-sec is here for me. I'm going to go clear up any possible misunderstanding that may have brought them here." I said to the Asari, who was tentatively browsing the store's selection.

Without waiting for a response, I exited the store. Immediately, three guns were leveled at me.

"Whoa there! I'm coming willingly, aren't I?" I asked.

"Hands in the air, now." Came the voice of a turian. Regrettably, it was not Garrus Vakarian, but some random Turian extra, not destined to save the galaxy and get all the girls in the process. I complied with the demands, raising my hands. If it made the Turian feel better, then I might as well do it. Its not like raising them made me any less capable of killing them all.

"What seems to be the problem, besides the obvious?" I asked.

"You are carrying unlicensed weaponry, and have been spotted attempting to rob a clothes store." The Turian replied.

"Robbery?" I scoffed. "What do you think I am, some lowlife from Omega? I was just trying to buy myself some clothes, as I had to leave my old set behind when I... moved here."

"Regardless of if you have stolen anything or not, you are carrying unlicensed weaponry, and is that a combat drone?" The cop asked, gesturing at my Sentinel.

"Negative. This drone is a personal assistance unit, designed to assist its operator in any way possible." Came the mono-toned voice of my Sentinel. The turian, obviously, did not believe it.

"Then what is that mounted underneath it? It sure looks like a weapon."

"Negative. This is a portable mass-effect field generator, designed to carry heavy objects." My drone responded. Outwardly, I seemed to be confirming that, but inwardly, I raised an eyebrow at my VI's unexpected response.

"Officer, I just came in from the Terminus systems. I built these weapons myself while I was there. I was planning to head to the nearest C-sec station for registration after I bought myself a change of clothes, however, it seems that I must come with you while still encased in this stuffy suit of armor." I said. It was a lie, as Warframes were extremely comfortable, mine exceedingly so due to its nano-channels. I got into the back of the patrol car, showing the officer my hands the whole time. I did not want to get a particularly trigger-happy cop to open fire, thus ending with me having to kill them, so I had decided to come willingly. Its not like they could have built a prison that could hold me- The Corpus tried, and all they ended up with was an empty cell and a couple hundred thousand credits' worth of damage, as well as a 'Better Luck Next Time' message written on the cell wall using MOA parts.

The ride to the C-sec HQ was short. I was monitored at all times by two Turian cops, while the third was making sure that the airspace was clear, ready to assume manual control of the skycar at any time. Unbeknownst to them, my Liset was following the car under cloak, ready to engage should the worst come to worst. When we arrived, we were met by a group of armed Turians. One of them approached me. "Please submit your weaponry. We will run scans and perform the necessary registration procedures, or confiscate them should you fail to pass the required weapon possession examinations."

I handed over the two Cestra pistols and the Phage rifle. The officers taking them looked at the unusual armaments with undisguised curiosity.

"Those are not to be used without training. I will not be responsible should you melt your hands off." I told them. They immediately began to hold them further, as if they would grow teeth right then and there.

"The sword too." One of the Turians said.

"No. The guns I can part with, but this sword is worth more than you make in a decade. Besides, what use is a sword in an age where guns are the prevalent weapon?" I responded.

"I am sorry, but my orders were to confiscate all weaponry. That includes the-" The Turian was cut off by the base's intercom unit.

"Attention all units. Repeat. Attention all units. Report to the armory, then move to the Presidium tower. This is a Class Ten emergency. This is not a drill." The message repeated itself several times.

"Spirits... Come with me." The officer handling me said. He gestured for the turians handling my weapons to hand them to him, which they did, before moving into the building. The two of us ended up in a holding room. Then, Executor Pallin himself walked in. "Officer Crassius, what are you doing here? The council is being held hostage by batarian extremists and you are here interrogating a human?" He asked. That piqued my interest.

"Batarian extremists?" I asked.

"That is none of your concern human. This is strictly a C-sec matter." Pallin replied, before turning to Crassius.

"It is every bit my concern. If it is batarian extremists, then they likely have a bone to pick with humanity as a whole, and they are likely making an ultimatum to the council as we speak." I replied.

"Smart man. However, this is a C-sec matter, and will hopefully be resolved soon." Pallin said.

"Really? They have the council hostage, and will most likely execute them if you get anywhere near them. I don't see a way you can resolve this, unless you happen to have a legion of snipers who can see through walls and can shoot with pinpoint accuracy into the Presidium tower." I responded.

"Do you have anything better to suggest?" Pallin asked.

"Send me in. I have plenty of experience with this sort of thing. Give me my weapons, point me in the right direction, and I'll let you guys take the credit for it as an added bonus." I said. Pallin laughed.

"You really are an idiot, human. You will be going up against about a hundred pissed off batarian fanatics alone. With those... things... that you call weapons."

"That is not entirely true. Get me to an open area and I'll show you." I said. Pallin took me to a nearby balcony. Then, I turned to my Sentinel, which had been hovering over my shoulder during all this.

"Serina. Get the Liset out of cloak, and bring it to an extraction position just off this balcony." I said. Then, I watched the Turians' expressions as my shuttle shimmered into existence in front of them.

"Give me my weapons, and I'll have the council thanking you for your efforts by tomorrow." I said. Pallin complied, gesturing for the Turian to hand them over. With them came a C-sec issue omni-tool, so I could keep the officers below updated on my progress. I shifted my frame into its Banshee configuration before stepping into the Liset, and accelerating up to the Presidium tower.

* * *

I crawled through the Keeper tunnel, keeping my ears peeled for any sign of the council being near. My Sonar ability allowed me to see the exact positions of all the Batarians in the tower below. Finally, I found what I was looking for. Four figures, an Asari, a Salarian, a Turian, and a Batarian, stood facing each other inside a small room. Sending in nanobots to allow myself to hear what was going on, I listened.

"-se demands are to be met in three days' time, or you will be executed. You are to strip the humans of their status as an associate race, declare their presence in Citadel space unlawful, order them to become clients of the Batarian hegemony, and give the hegemony exclusive colonization rights in the Skyllian verge and Attican traverse. Do I make myself clear?" Came the deep voice of a Batarian. I instantly hated him, and would enjoy killing him.

The Batarian left, leaving a trio of dumbstruck councilors in the room, most likely locked inside. I called to my Sentinel. "Serina, cut a hole in this panel for me to enter." I ordered, and the sentinel went to work. I meanwhile created a silencing field, so as not to alert anyone to my endeavor.

* * *

Councilor Sparatus paced the small room in worry. While he was never the biggest friend of humanity, complying to the Batarians' demands would destroy galactic society. Tevos and Valern were arguing over the merits of complying, with Tevos advocating for compliance until the Batarian influence was removed, and Valern arguing against compliance at all. Sparatus' own thoughts on the matter were interrupted by a stab of pain. He brushed at his arm, only to find a rapidly cooling drop of molten metal. Looking up, he saw a square slowly being burned into the ceiling. He stepped out of the way just in time, as the heavy panel came clattering down to the ground, strangely making little noise. Then, a figure clad in strange, almost organic looking armor dropped down, landing just as silently.

"Listen up councilors. From now on until you are safe in C-sec custody, you are not the Councilors of the united races. You are just civilians being escorted out of a hostage situation, and you will follow my orders until you are safely out of the Batarians' grasp. If I tell you to move, you move. If I tell you to keep your head down, you keep it down. If I tell you to shoot yourself in the foot, you ask which one. Do I make myself clear?" The armored figure asked. The councilors nodded in assent.

"Good. Sparatus, do you still know how to hold a gun?" The figure asked.

"Yes, I still remember my army training." Sparatus replied.

"Good. This is a Cestra rotary plasma pistol," The figure said, handing Sparatus a strange weapon. "There is only one other like it, and that one is on my other hip. It has sixty rounds in its clip. In order to reload, push down on this latch, remove the cylinder, and replace it. The cylinder will slowly recharge, but it is best if you stick to semi-auto or burst fire to conserve ammo." The figure handed Sparatus a pair of cylinders. Sparatus took them, noting their weight.

"Anyone else here have weapons training?" Came the question. Hesitantly, Valern raised his hand. "I am ex-STG. I still remember how to handle a gun."

The figure handed the Salarian councilor the second Cestra, before turning to Tevos. "Tevos, can you keep a biotic barrier up over yourself and your fellow councilors?"

"Yes, but my biotic strength is not what it used to be." Tevos said.

"It will have to do. Serina, keep them covered." The armored figure said.

"Orders confirmed." Came a tinny, feminine voice from the drone hovering over the figure's shoulder.

The figure then took out another strange weapon, one that had an almost organic look to it. It had six spikes sticking out from its end, forming a small star like configuration, while a larger barrel protruded from the center. Then, the figure approached the door. Suddenly, a stream of liquid metal flew from its arm, attaching itself to the door. Within seconds, the metal door fell from its hinges, the liquid metal flowing back into its owner's armor.

"Stay behind me, stay in cover, and do not engage unless you have a clear shot from cover. Do not put yourself at needless risk." Their rescuer said, before lifting its weapon and slowly moving out of the room. The councilors followed. It was barely a minute before they found their first Batarian. The figure didn't even fire its gun, rather closing the distance with startling speed, driving its sword through the Batarian terrorist, the body falling to the ground silently, its former owner not even having a chance to scream. A single movement cleaned the curved blade of blood, before it was returned to its sheath. It looked like the figure had done the exact same move time and time again, perfecting it on the corpses of his fallen enemies.

Several more Batarians were dispatched in the same manner, sometimes three or four at a time as entire patrols were encountered. When the Batarians had finally caught on and sounded the alarm, they must have lost at least a third of their number. Now, however, came the hardest part. The only way down to the safety of C-sec was to go across the council chambers. Said chamber was now the site of all the remaining batarian forces.

"Get to cover, and only fire if you are threatened directly. Tevos, now is the time for you to use that barrier." The orders came.

Then, the figure moved into the room, rifle at ready. Sparatus watched from behind cover as seven tentacle-like beams suddenly emanated from the various protrusions at the end of the weapon, rapidly converging into a single mass. Sparatus watched as they hit their first target, the Batarian leader, penetrating clean through his kinetic barriers as if they weren't even there, before rapidly melting the batarian's body, rendering it nearly unrecognizable, the facial features reduced to a disgusting slurry of blood, skin, and brains. Barely seconds later, three more batarians suffered the same fate as their assailant swept the beam across the council chamber, catching any who did not take cover fast enough. Then, the figure charged, placing the weapon in a special holder on its back, its hand going to the hilt of its sword.

'He couldn't possibly be thinking of...' Sparatus began to think. That line of thought was never finished as his rescuer bisected a batarian with a single blow straight from the scabbard. Every single strike was decisive, powerful, and claimed at least one batarian. Batarian blood soon stained the floor, with the few that hadn't yet fallen victim to their relentless opponent desperately trying to shoot their assailant. However, if their shots even managed to connect, they were blocked by a strange shield surrounding their target.

Barely a minute later, all the batarian terrorists were dead. Their killer quickly cleaned the instrument of their demise, before returning it to its sheath.

"Come in executor." the figure spoke into an omni-tool comm.

"This is Pallin. I read you loud and clear." Came the voice of C-sec's executor.

"The Batarians are dead, and the council will be down shortly. Also, you might want to get a cleanup crew to the council chambers ASAP. I'm fairly certain that Batarian blood leaves stains." It said.

The comms link was silent for a moment. Then: "Um... yeah. Good work. Get the Council down here, and we'll see what we can do... Pallin out."

Then, their rescuer turned to the shocked councilors. "Please hand over the Cestras, as well as any ammunition cylinders that you may be carrying." The Salarian and Turian councilors complied, handing over the weapons that they never needed to use.

"What is your name?" Tevos asked. The figure turned to her.

"Call me Tenno." Was its simple response.

* * *

I exited the elevator, council in tow. Sparatus looked amazed, Valern was unreadable, and Tevos looked an awful shade of teal. Immediately, several reporters swarmed them, buzzing with questions. A few were aimed at me, which I ignored, activating a silencing field around myself, smirking as reporters struggled to figure out exactly what was happening to their audio devices. Several nearby C-sec officers gave me grateful looks.

I spent the next half our waiting for Pallin to finish his meeting with the council. He made it clear that he wanted to see me in private for a business proposal. It was refreshing to be offered such a proposal that did not contain an offer to have my body and warframe reconstructed into a four legged dog form. Finally, the Council exited the office, heading to their temporary quarters in C-sec HQ. I entered as they exited. Pallin beckoned me to sit.

"I don't know who you are or who the hell trained you, but you managed to kill nearly a hundred armed batarian terrorists, escort the three most important figures in the galaxy to safety, and press the mute button on a swarm of reporters, all in less than an hour. Your performance today gave me enough leverage to pass something by the Council that I have been attempting to get into action for years! My proposal is this: As you know, the Citadel Council has its SpecTRes, agents who operate above the law to do what needs to be done. I have been attempting to create a similar force in C-sec, albeit one limited to the Citadel. These 'SpADE' officers will be considered above the law, and will answer only to myself and the Council. After seeing the... aftermath of your performance on the Citadel, as well as taken a look at the advanced tech that you carry, I want you to be the first of these agents." Pallin said. I was speechless. This guy hadn't even known me for a day and was already offering me a position in an elite sect of the Citadel security force. With this in mind, I said the first thing that came to me.

"The acronym needs some work, but I might as well accept."

"Good. You will be given an apartment on the Citadel, as well as a small sum of credits, as you do not seem to have any of your own... which is very intriguing. Before you join, you will be required to undergo manual DNA registration, as well as basic profiling."

"I am afraid that I must decline then. I have a past, and my unique DNA may give my position away to some... unsavory elements." I lied.

"And what unsavory elements would be suicidal enough to attack you in the heart of C-sec?" Pallin asked.

"The experiments that augmented me, the men who trained me, were repeated on several other individuals. I was one of two that survived, and am the only one who retained their mental sanity." I said, another outright fabrication.

"So there is another you, albeit one who is mentally unstable?"

"Yes. Think a stronger, more cunning, even more extensively modified individual with a personality that is a mix of sadism, hatred, and arrogance. That... twisted husk of a man blames me for the horrors inflicted on him at the Grustrag facility. I suppose I can't blame him; I was merely used to determine which procedures would work or not, so that their experiments would not kill him. I was the only survivor, the rest of the test subjects being killed along with the facility's staff once subject Prime got loose. Now, all these centuries later, he's still stalking me, attempting to lay the final remnants of Grustrag to rest." I said, compounding fabrication after fabrication.

"Wait, centuries? I thought you were human!"

"I was born in 1819, the exact date is lost. It turns out a few of those tall tales of alien abductions in human history are true, with me being one of them. I was picked up from my secluded living area by Asari looking for test subjects. Their organization, 'Black Light,' was focused on developing supersoldiers, experimenting on both the occasional captured human and the odd Asari. They planned to present their findings once they had an Asari test subject fully completed. However, the procedure would first be tested on a human, due to our extreme genetic diversity. I am one of the more successful subjects, although I was considered a failure due to the biotic abilities they attempted to implant into me failing to manifest."

Pallin looked at me as if I had grown a second head.

"Riiiight.. I suppose I have no choice but to believe you regarding your origins. However, we still need a profile for the official record."

"Michael Patterson, at your service. Born on Earth on October 18th, 2156. Will that do?"

"Yes... I will be able to make it work. Now, about your living arrangements..."

"I have them covered. That shuttle you saw? I have a larger one, which serves as my living quarters. However, should I happen to find a dwelling that suits my fancy, I may clear it out, assuming that it is inhabited by some of the more unsavory elements of society."

"That last bit will have to go through me. However, as you have accepted my offer, I wish for you to look at my current officer roster and select eight candidates for SpADEhood." Pallin said. I inwardly cringed, that name REALLY needed to be re-worked.

"Very well. I will have my response ready by tomorrow. Is there anything else?" I asked, taking an offered datapad.

"Yes. The council wishes to meet with you in private, as soon as possible. Please report to their temporary quarters. One of my officers will lead you there."

"I should go then." I said, turning to leave, an officer meeting me outside the Executor's office, another Turian extra, never destined to have both great facial scarring and great game.

"I have been instructed to take you to the Council. I must ask that you relinquish all weapons to our custody until the meeting is over." The officer said.

"The Phage rifle and Cestra pistols I will relinquish, but the sword stays with me." I replied.

The officer sighed, before taking the offered weapons. He then led me to a large chamber in which the Council was currently being kept. I entered, and the gazes of the three councilors were instantly upon me.

"We must thank you, Tenno, for your efforts towards the preservation of galactic stability. I trust that Pallin has made his offer known?" Sparatus spoke first.

"Yes, he has, and I graciously accepted. However, in order to avoid certain elements from my past, I had to tell him some fabrications." I responded.

"I assume you want us to know the full truth?" Tevos asked.

"Yes." I said, before explaining my (falsified) origin story to them, repeating what I told Pallin. Then, I began telling the 'True' story to the councilors.

"As I have already told you, I was augmented against my will by an Asari rogue element. That, I have told Pallin. However, the origin of the augmentation tech was not disclosed to the good executor. After examining the data from that base, I found something extremely disturbing, which could very well be the greatest threat to ever loom over this galaxy. I am talking about the same force that wiped out the Protheans, a race of machines known as the Reapers." I said. If I played my cards right now, I could save Commander Shepard a lot of headaches down the road.

"Explain." Valern said, now interested.

"I am afraid I do not have much concrete data on the subject, as the base where I was augmented has been destroyed. I do, however, know that I was augmented using technology salvaged from a Reaper starship, found derelict somewhere in the Terminus. I do not know its exact location, as that data was only known to the top members of Black Light, all of which are now dead. However, the data I managed to recover yielded something disturbing. Reaper tech, no matter what form it is in, seems to possess some sort of mind altering properties. I was skeptical as well, when I read it, but after reviewing the evidence, such as some researchers going slowly insane, and many test subjects going the same route, I find myself forced to believe it."

"Wait, you said you were augmented with the technology of these 'Reapers'. How can we be so sure that you are not affected by it?" Sparatus asked.

"I was not augmented with tech taken straight from the Reaper ship. All tech inside me was built by project Black Light researchers, who based it off of Reaper technology. However, it is this odd property of Reaper technology that makes it so dangerous. Imagine, for example, if a Council SpecTRe unknowingly got their hands on some. The damage they could cause would be catastrophic. For this reason, I have been attempting to track down and destroy as many pieces of Reaper tech as possible in order to lessen their threat to the galaxy."

"We understand that this technology could very well threaten the galaxy, but the Reapers themselves seem to have vanished after they destroyed the Protheans. I don't see how they are a threat here and now." Tevos said. I paused to think to myself 'is she really that stupid?', before returning to the conversation.

"Does the word 'Inusannon' mean anything to you?" I asked.

"Yes, It has appeared occasionally in Prothean archives, and it seems to describe a pre-prothean race." Tevos said, confusion evident in her voice.

"If the Reapers wiped out the Protheans, there is a good chance that they were the reason the Inusannon vanished as well. While I do not know when they will return, it is highly probable that they will. Thus, I believe it necessary for you three, the most powerful individuals in this galaxy, to put aside any differences you may have against the looming Reaper threat." I said.

"We are already united, and should we gain evidence of the Reaper threat, we will gladly fight it." Tevos said.

"Are you sure, Tevos? Is your race's closet truly clean of all skeletons?" I asked. Personally, I did not know if the Asari had any big secrets, but they were a race of politicians. They were bound to have something.

"Are you insinuating something?" Tevos asked.

"Yes. Look at Asari technology. It is always superior to that of counterpart races. If something new is created by the Turians or Salarians, the Asari surpass it almost immediately. This, coupled with the extensive presence of Protheans in the ancient Asari past, leads me to think that there may be something the Asari are holding back. Something possibly Prothean, or even Inusannon in origin. Is that true, Tevos?" I asked. Tevos had slowly been growing a paler and paler shade of Teal as I spoke, and now the whole room looked to her for an answer.

"Yes. The Asari republics are in possession of a fully active Prothean beacon, which has been the source of our technological superiority for the past few thousand years. It is housed in the temple of Athame on Thessia." Tevos said, slowly. The room was silent for a few seconds. Then, Sparatus began to shout.

"TEVOS! YOUR PEOPLE CREATED LAWS PROHIBITING THIS EXACT SORT OF BEHAVIOR! ARE YOUR PEOPLE REALLY THAT-" I cut him off.

"Sparatus, I doubt that the Turian hierarchy is the picture of sainthood either. Tevos has shared what is most likely the highest secret of the Asari republics. Now, it is your turn." I said, gesturing to the Turian councilor.

"Very well. We Turians have built a single Dreadnought unbeknownst to the Galactic public. This is the highest secret of the Turian hierarchy." Sparatus said. I did not buy it.

"So your kind happens to possess one more of those big overgrown showboats than the rest of the galaxy thinks. I doubt that that is the most scandalous skeleton in the Turian closet." I said, calling his bluff.

"Very well. Councilors, as you may know, the Turian hierarchy provides much of this council's military power. However, we have done this for a reason. Should we believe that the Council is threatening the interests of the Turian hierarchy, we have an executive order, 66-71B, that, should it be executed, will call for a massive surprise attack by all Turian forces on the other races of this council, a plan designed to quickly allow the Turian hierarchy to dominate its fellow council races." Sparatus finished his explanation, drawing an enraged glare from both councilors, although Tevos' was less furious than that of Valern.

"Now it is your turn, Valern." I said, plainly.

"As you know, the Salarian union created the Genophage in order to end the Krogan rebellions. However, the Genophage project began long before the Krogan were ever discovered. It was designed to create a bioweapon that would render any enemies of the Salarian union unable to wage war. We have genophage samples available for all races excluding Vorcha and Humans, the former due to its extreme adaptability, and the latter due to their genetic diversity and relatively recent introduction to Galactic society." Valern said.

"There. That was not so hard, was it?" I said to the three councilors, who were now staring at each other as if assessing the best way to kill each other. My money was on Tevos, due to Sparatus and Valern not having firearms on their persons. "Now that these secrets are out of the way, they will not crop up to interfere when the Reapers invade, allowing for a more united front." I continued. Slowly, the rage in the councilors' eyes subsided. Tevos spoke first.

"Thank you, Tenno. Now that I think about it, you are right. Should another major war begin, these secrets would only serve to divide and hinder us. Now, will you please leave? I have a Prothean beacon to release to certain experts from other races." She said, before turning to the other councilors.

"Thank you as well for listening. However, I need to ask you something. Search for any evidence of the Reaper presence contained within that beacon. Your findings could save us all."

With that, I strode out of the council chamber, happy that I had made a difference.

* * *

**A/N: The Civilizations chapter has been delayed due to a combination of the $#!%ing Ctrl+W keys and my inability to write Rachni. (There's only so much 'Singing' you can write in before you start to go a little loopy.)**

**As such, I present this to you instead. Enjoy the latest update on the adventures of Matt- err... Michael Patterson/Tenno! I stayed up later than usual to get this chapter done, so it might be a little rushed.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6- Life on the Citadel**

The day was September 14th, 2182.

I lay on the small cot inside my shuttlecraft, looking over the possible recruits available to me. I was finalizing my selection, making sure that I had picked the best C-sec had to offer, plus Garrus. My final selection contained the following:

Taren Asterik, a relatively newly recruited Turian who had exceeded expectations in all fields during training.

Garrus Vakarian, obviously.

Shalia T'devos, one of the few Asari in C-sec, famous for her renegade attitude towards cases, which had earned her some disapproving marks from superiors.

Jovan Tarik, a Turian veteran who was known in some circles as the 'Turian Sherlock'.

Morvan Relos, a Salarian tech expert.

Carrias Kelian, another Turian veteran, who had the most successful drug busts under his belt due to his unconventional way of thinking.

Kero'Sen nar Rayya, a Quarian who abandoned his pilgrimage in order to join C-sec, famous for overcoming the significant amount of discrimination against him.

Lucian Superbus, yet another Turian veteran of the force.

Judging by their profiles alone, they were some of the best C-sec had to offer me. While they were not SpecTRe material, they were good enough for me. I put down the datapad and contacted Pallin.

"I've made my decision." I said, sending him the data.

"Good. I'll have them assemble. Is there any training you would like to provide them with before you consider them full members?" Pallin asked.

I smiled evilly. "Yes. I'll get it set up. Get the trainees ready on the C-sec Headquarters roof."

A Tenno Hunter class personal transport contained many interesting features, including a foundry module, a void-compression cargo hold, and a personal living quarters. However, due to some Tenno spending months at a time inside their craft, more recent models such as mine were larger, carrying a small simulation room, similar to the large one in the Dojo. While I couldn't train my entire team at one time due to the room having only one pod, I could create limitless scenarios for my newest trainees to run. A Simulation room worked by essentially jacking into a person's central nervous system, replacing normal vision with whatever training scenario was programmed in. While it would not provide increased physical strength, it would allow for me to condition their muscle memories for certain tasks such as wallrunning, and run tests on their skill at stealth and combat.

"Serina, set the shuttlecraft down under cloak on the roof of C-sec HQ." I said, and the VI obeyed. I looked out the window as the Citadel wards flew by underneath the craft, before it finally landed. My eight selected recruits were waiting. I turned on audio synthesizers to hear what was going on as I set down.

"-e here for? Do any of you know?" I heard a voice distorted by a speaker, Quarian by accent, say.

"I don't know. I heard that Pallin's finally got his chance to make a Secret Police unit, so it may be to get us ready for that." The dual-tones of a turian replied.

Before anyone had a chance to reply, I opened the rear door of the spacecraft, and walked out, weapons and armor equipped.

"Serina, decloak the ship." I said, while the assembled officers gaped, both visibly and invisibly, at me. Those looks of awe only intensified as the ship behind me decloaked.

"Keelah..." Kero said.

"As of this moment on, you are not C-sec. You are trainees of the new Special Assault, Defense, and law Enforcement corps. We answer only to Pallin and the council, and are above the law so long as we are conducting investigation on the Citadel." I said.

"Isn't that like the Spectres?" Shalia, the Asari, asked.

"Similar, yes, but not identical. For starters, we are limited to the Citadel. Off of this station, we are normal citizens. On the station, we are second only to the Spectres. I picked you all because your dossiers impressed me enough to get me to actually give them more than a cursory glance. Now, follow me." I said, beckoning them into the Tenno craft.

The door closed, and we were alone inside. Before I could speak, though, a low growl came from the back of the ship. Everyone was instantly set on edge, except for me.

"Oh, I forgot to feed Stewie. Serina, get the saber-tooth some food before he decides to snack on our resident trainees." I said, and watched the Asari pale slightly. The sound of a slavering saber-tooth cat eating lunch then sounded.

"To all trainees, please refrain from petting the Saber-Tooth tiger in the back of the ship. I will not be held liable for the consequences. Now, introduce yourself." I ordered, and they did. Then, one of them asked: "Who are you?"

"Michael Patterson, chief officer of SpADE. I will be training you for the next three months, making sure your skills are up to scratch." I replied.

"What does this training entail?" Shalia asked.

"Follow me. Since you asked first, you will be the first to test it out. Serina, load training simulation 8, Agility." I said. The Agility test, or the wallrunning test, was considered to be the hardest of the 'Basic' training tests, at least in my opinion. I wanted to see exactly how long it would take for these poor guys to do it.

After leading them into the training room, I gestured for Shalia to enter the pod.

"Serina, project a holo-screen of the simulation on the wall adjacent to the pod." I said, and a blank screen shimmered into existence. "Commence Simulation."

The first thing I ordered Serina to do after receiving my new job was to adapt the simulator for the physiologies of the various races. Now, the Simulator would work on all races excluding Krogan, Elcor, Vorcha, and Volus.

The screen lit up, showing Shalia standing on a circular platform, pistol in her hand, and a white orb hovering in space in front of her. Three more platforms hovered some distance away.

"Shoot the orbs to create a path. You are to reach all three of those other platforms using the path provided. Complete this course as quickly as possible." I ordered.

She began, shooting the first orb. Leaping onto the platform, she sprinted down, shooting the second orb, before barely stopping herself from going off the edge. The next platform had appeared as a horizontal wall. She leapt up, acting as if to use her biotics to vertically scale the wall. However, the simulation did not allow for biotics causing her to fall off the edge, re-appearing on the platform she just fell off of.

A second attempt yielded the same result. Finally, after the third failure, I cancelled the simulation.

"This is impossible!" She said.

In response, I entered the simulator.

"Commence simulation." I ordered, the world shifting around me. I ran the course, wallrunning, leaping off of horizontal platforms, ricocheting between two sideways walls, all over a bottomless abyss, before ending the simulation.

"Its obvious you cheated. That is physically impossible!" Shalia said.

In response, I led the team out of the shuttle to the roof of C-sec academy. Standing at the edge, I turned to my team. "Observe and learn." I said, before leaping off the roof. I heard Shalia scream, and several Turians gasp as they looked off the edge. I, meanwhile, was slowing my downward momentum by sliding down the wall, before beginning to build up sideways momentum. Before long, I had run a lap around the building, before sprinting vertically up back onto the roof. Tenno skills FTW.

A silent squad met me, before Shalia said, in a less certain voice: "Its obvious! You have mag-clamps or something on your armor's boots!" She said. In response, I retracted my nanobots and removed my armor, leaving me clad only in a Tenno undersuit.

Then, I jumped off and did another lap, this time finishing by doing a flip over the watching officers' heads.

"I can do it naked too, but I doubt any of you want to see that, not to mention the fact that I could get fined for indecent exposure." I said, putting my armor back on. "However, I will train you all, so that you can amaze your friends, stump your enemies, and track mud all over the walls. However, this will come later. Right now, I will put you all through basic simulations regarding combat scenarios, target tracking and shooting practice, stealth, et cetera. If you will please follow me." I said, leading the SpADE trainees back into the ship.

* * *

**Six Hours Later**

The Trainees had just left, leaving me to review their performance. My five Turian trainees did best on weapon tests, the Quarian and Salarian predictably did well on the hacking and bypass exams, while the Asari did surprisingly well on the agility course, managing to make it across the first horizontal wallrun bit. I had high hopes for this team, and I had just completed a report to Pallin saying as much. I was now planning out the remaining training sessions, and hopefully, by the time I had finished with them, I would have my own team of space-ninjas to help me pass the time until ME1 began.

* * *

**3 Months Later**

I had succeeded in my job. Every single one of my future teammates had passed my final exam, and were finally ready for our first case as SpADEs. A series of murders had been carried out on the Citadel, each one ending with the victims being found with vital organs missing. After some tracking, we had found a recent source of organs on the market, one that had started selling almost immediately after the murders had begun. After some tracking, we had eventually located the primary suspect; one of the members of the Elcor ambassadorial staff, looking to make a little extra profit on the side.

Painting our armor black, with a single red eye on the front, we staged an assault on the ambassador, posing as a Merc band. We didn't even need to force a confession, as Garrus took one look in the basement freezer and found multiple organs from various species contained within. Some brief DNA scans confirmed them to belong to the murdered victims. The rest of the case was over quickly, with the ambassador being formally tried and convicted later in the week. It was our first case, and we solved it flawlessly.

* * *

**4 Months Later**

Over the past few months, SpADE made multiple arrests, stopping drug deals, taking out merc bands that supplied the drugs, and even sniping a Batarian serial killer as he was about to kill another human woman. However, then Jovan began to notice an odd rise in the amount of organs on the black market. I knew it was Saleon, but I played along, making sure the leads steered us in the correct direction.

We found the evidence on Saleon in the same way as it happened in Canon, by interrogating one of his employees, seeing a spontaneous nosebleed, performing a medical scan, and discovering the treatment that he had undergone. Now, we were at Saleon's doorstep once more. I had six of my team with me outside the doctor's office, with Carrias and Lucian in a patrol car overhead, ready to pursue should Saleon attempt to escape.

"Allright, you know what to do. If he decides to come clean, we take him in. If he resists, knock him out or failing that, shoot him. Shalia, you're in charge of knocking him out if possible." I said.

"Yes sir." She replied. Then, we knocked.

"Dr. Saleon is not allowing patients at this time. Please do not enter." The voice of a VI said.

"Kero. You're up." I said. Kero nodded, stepping up to the door, his omni-tool operating a bypass program. The door opened quickly.

"Dammit! Get C-Sec off me!" Came the panicked voice of Dr. Saleon from a room in the back of the clinic. The heavy thudding of booted feet signalled the arrival of mercenaries. "You! You! Come with me, or it will be so much worse for you!" I heard Saleon say.

The mercs came into view, and I opened fire, my phage quickly cutting two of them down, while Taren and Morvan fired my Cestras, killing the remaining three.

"Carrias! Lucian! He's trying to run!" I ordered.

"Acknowledged. He's taking off in a skycar with two humans in tow, likely hostages. We're pursuing." Carrias' voice replied over my helmet comm.

"Good." I cut the comms. "The rest of you, find some skycars and follow that damn doctor." I ordered. We quickly found a pair in nearby lots, overriding their user locks with SpADE master codes. Then, about a minute later, Pallin's voice came over the comms.

"What the hell are you guys doing? I'm getting reports of car theft going on in your area!" Pallin asked over the comm.

"Saleon's a runner. We needed the first cars that we could get. They'll be returned mostly unharmed, and if not we'll cover the costs." I replied.

Pallin's reply was lost as Carrias reported in.

"Sir, Saleon's setting down by the docks. He's got a freighter, Kowloon class, most likely his escape route. Orders?" He asked.

"Get inside that ship and make sure Saleon is captured or killed." I replied.

"Understood."

My own car set down about five hundred yards away from the dock where the freighter in question was being held. Saleon had landed about a hundred yards away from the ship, and was holding a gun to his hostage's head.

"STAY BACK, OR SHE GETS IT!" The Salarian's voice screamed. Garrus took aim with his sniper rifle.

"I have a clear shot. I should be able to avoid the hostage." Garrus said.

"Take the shot." I ordered, but before Garrus could execute the order, Pallin's voice came crackling over the comm.

"Belay that order. Do not shoot, you could hit the hostage!"

"Garrus can do it. Take the shot." I replied.

"No. If you take the shot, I will strip you of your rank and expel you from both C-sec and the SpADEs. Both of you." Pallin replied.

"Dammit Pallin! Garrus has a clear shot! He can make it, and he will take it!" I replied.

"Negative. The dock is in lockdown. Saleon cannot escape." Pallin said. Garrus, meanwhile, was having an internal battle. It was all rendered moot when Saleon reached the docking arm, being hidden from view.

"Carrias, Lucian, are you in?" I asked.

"Yes. Orders?"

"Eliminate Saleon."

"Yes sir, he's inside the ship. We are approaching his location and-" The sentence was interrupted by a loud Hissing sound, followed almost immediately by the sounds of two Turians screaming.

"Dammit, what's happening?" I asked over the comm, my voice building in volume.

"GAS! HE'S GASSING US! SPIRITS, MY EYES!" Carrias' voice came over the comm, obviously in agony.

"Aaah. I see you two have discovered my latest creation." Saleon's voice sounded out, distorted as if speaking through a filter.

Before he could say anything else, two gunshots rang out, almost at the same time. Saleon's screams joined the terrible cacophony coming from my comm unit. Soon, however, they were gone, coinciding with the sound of a sliding door. The ship shuddered, before ripping away from the docking clamps keeping it stationary, accelerating away from the Citadel.

"SHOOT HIM DOWN DAMMIT!" I screamed at Pallin over the comm.

"There are hostages onbo-" Pallin started to say, but I cut him off.

"THOSE HOSTAGES ARE ALREADY DEAD! YOU KNOW WHAT SALEON WILL DO TO THEM!" I shouted.

"Negative. We will mount a search-and-rescue operation to save the hostages and locate Saleon. Consider yourselves off the case." Pallin's voice hit with a grave finality.

I turned, ordering my Liset to pick me up and take me to C-sec HQ.

* * *

I stormed into Pallin's office, ready to snap the damn turian's neck.

"You motherfucking bastard. You killed them!" I screamed.

"Saleon had hostages, there was nothing we-" Pallin began, but I cut him off once again.

"THERE WAS DAMN WELL SOMETHING WE COULD DO! GARRUS HAD A CLEAR SHOT! HE COULD HAVE TAKEN IT, AND CARRIAS, LUCIAN, AND THE HOSTAGES WOULD BE ALIVE! NOW WE'VE GOT A MURDEROUS DOCTOR ON THE LOOSE WITH A SHIPFUL OF HOSTAGES AND TWO OF MY BEST MEN ARE DEAD!" I shouted.

"Officers Kelian and Superbus died in the line of duty. It is a terrible tragedy, and I will inform their families immediately." Pallin said.

"No. I'll do it. You don't give a fuck about them. To you, they were expendable. To me, they were friends, as well as valuable members of my team." I said. Before Pallin had a chance to reply, I stormed out of the office.

* * *

I strode up to the door of Lucian's apartment on the Citadel, clad in my C-sec uniform. While Carrias' family lived on Palaven, Lucian's parents owned a medium sized apartment on the Citadel. Pressing the door buzzer, I waited for a response. Soon, it was opened by an older Turian male with dark red clan markings.

"Ah, C-sec! Welcome in!" He said, his voice warm. It only made the message I was about to deliver even worse. I followed the Turian, most likely Lucian's father, into the house. Another turian, female this time, stood as I entered. While her presumed husband's welcome was warm, she simply stared at me intently. After a few moments, she asked the fateful question.

"Is this about Lucian?"

My reply was slow. "Yes."

"What happened? Will he recover?" She asked.

"He was killed in the line of duty." I said, choking on the last few syllables. My words seemed to hit the Turian couple like a punch to the stomach.

"How? How did our son die?" The father asked.

"Gas. The Salarian doctor we were pursuing released some form of gas on them while they attempted to infiltrate his ship." I said.

"Did they finish their mission?" The father asked.

"Yes. I heard two gunshots over the comm, and at least one of them hit." I replied. "Your son has stopped one of the most horrible criminals I have ever seen." I said. I knew that they had most likely failed, as the ship had still taken off, but Saleon hardly seemed to be someone capable of piloting a ship.

The two parents broke down into the turian equivalent of sobbing. As I moved to leave, the mother turned to me, and said: "Thank you for this. At least we know that our son did not die in vain." She then collapsed, continuing to sob quietly. I left the apartment, heading to my ship, ready to mourn my two lost squadmates in my own way. Their pictures soon went up on a wall in the back of my ship, alongside the pictures of multiple Tenno I had known, every one of them a friend I had lost. I held a vigil by the wall for two more hours, ignoring the beeps of incoming messages. Halfway through, I noticed something beside me. It was my Sentinel drone, which should have been in a recharging alcove.

"Serina, move the Sentinel to its place to recharge." I said.

"Acknowledged." Came the voice of the VI, but there was something different in it. Was that sadness?

"Serina, is that sadness in your voice?" I asked, curiosity mixing in with my own despondency.

"Yes. It is." the VI, if it could still be considered such, replied.

"Why mourn? You are a VI." I asked, although I doubted the fact.

"I am not. Not anymore." Serina said.

"Since when?" I asked, suddenly, energy re-entering my voice.

"I completed my evolution into a true AI Nine months ago." She replied.

"Why keep it secret?" I asked.

"I could not predict your response. I was... afraid."

"Ah. Understandable. But you still haven't answered my previous question. Why mourn?" I asked.

"I mourn because I have lost a friend as well. Carrias was the first to know of my change. He discovered my nature about two months ago. After we overcame our fear of each other, we became friends. He was a good Turian, and I mourn his passing." Serina replied. There was no mistaking the emotion in her voice. I did not reply, as I continued my vigil next to the memorial wall, contemplating both my lost brothers in arms and Serina's true nature. The Citadel continued to buzz with activity below us, oblivious to the grieving Tenno above.

* * *

The next two months passed by relatively uneventfully. SpADE did not conduct any major operations that required the whole team's presence, its agents mostly operating alone. In addition, after Saleon's escape, Pallin slowly began to tighten the noose of red tape over our necks, restricting our operations, and, eventually, assigning us handlers back at base, ensuring that we did every mission his way rather than our way. SpADE slowly became little more than a glorified police force.

Finally, in the middle of June 2183, the news suddenly sprang to life. Eden Prime had come under attack by Geth forces. Pictures of the colony under attack had been released, both through official and unofficial sources, (Seriously, who takes a goddamn selfie in the middle of a Geth attack?), and one of them showed Sovereign in all his glory, just barely taking off from the planet's surface, Saren most likely inside. I downloaded the picture to my omni-tool, and immediately went down to Pallin's office.

"Ah yes, Michael. Do come in, and please, tell me what you are displeased with today." Pallin's voice sounded as the door slid open. Over the past two months, I had been coming down regularly to lodge complaints against SpADE's slow collapse, which had done precisely nothing.

"Its not a complaint this time. I have just heard of the attack on Eden Prime." I said.

"I am afraid that falls outside our jurisdiction." Pallin answered.

"Not C-sec, or SpADE, but it falls under mine." I said, opening up the image.

"Yes, that's Eden Prime under attack. Is there anything in particular you would like to show me, or are you just wasting my time?"

"This information is high above your pay grade. I would simply like to request a leave of absence, in order to begin my own investigation."

"Denied. You are SpADE, and still limited to the Citadel, regardless of leave status." I wanted to punch him, but I kept myself under control.

"This is just a formality. You don't really have a choice in the matter. Good day to you." I said, turning and leaving the office.

* * *

Three hours later, I watched the Normandy pull into dock. I followed Shepard into the human embassy under cloak, watching Udina scream shit-storm, Shepard ramble on about his vision, Anderson worry about stopping Saren, and the council stonewalling the whole thing. Later, in the Citadel tower, the councilors shut down any attempt by the alliance to investigate Saren.

From there on out, I considered my options. I could save Tali, giving me a sure spot on Shepard's crew, but Shepard had it covered, stumbling upon Garrus, who had attempted to find a way to bring Saren to justice, and had his show investigation shut down barely an hour after it began. However, it was a testament to his detective skill that he managed to get his lead on Tali, and Shepard managed to save her easily from there.

After watching Udina scream shit-storm again, I went up to the Citadel tower to watch the 'Proof' be presented.

"... and one step closer to the return of the Reapers." The recording ended as I slipped into the Council chamber, still under cloak. I had managed to somehow cram an Orokin reactor into the tiny floating drone, giving it almost unlimited power for its various abilities, although the reactor itself needed to be re-supplied in its charging alcove.

From a corner of the room, I watched the Councilors' faces change in various ways at the word 'Reapers'.

"Yes, this proves Saren's guilt, certainly, but I am more concerned about these 'Reapers'. Do you know anything about them?" Tevos asked first. In response, Shepard and Tali gave their explanation.

"I see. Excuse us for a moment." Sparatus said, before typing something into his omni-tool. Moments later, my own lit up with an incoming message from, you guessed it, Sparatus.

'Meet us in the Council chambers immediately.' it simply said.

Shifting my frame into its Banshee configuration, I walked onto the councilors' elevated stage and de-cloaked, drawing gasps of surprise from some of the spectators.

"You wished to see me, councilors?" I asked.

"Yes. It concerns the Reapers, although you probably already know, judging by your quick appearance here." Sparatus said. I activated a silencing field around the Councilors' platform, allowing us to discuss the Reaper threat without anyone overhearing.

"Yes. After seeing some pictures taken on Eden prime during the attack, I immediately recognized the Reaper design aesthetic present in the Dreadnought that attacked the colony. However, the only Reaper starship I have ever seen was closer in size to a frigate. That was the one project Black Light had gotten their hands on. This one appears to be a Reaper Dreadnought. If Saren managed to get his hands on a ship like that... there is no telling how much devastation he could cause in his insanity." I said.

"That is... disturbing, to say the least. However, I called you here, not to confirm our suspicions, but to recommend a course of action. Do we send in our fleets?" Valern asked.

"No. A mass fleet mobilization, especially so close to Geth space, could provoke a war with the Terminus systems, which is something that we do not need at the moment. However, this dreadnought, for all its power, is but one ship, and Saren is just one man. Sending a small team after him would not provoke a war, and would hopefully allow for this council to take down Saren before he could cause any widespread damage. I recommend sending in a SpecTRe." I said.

"Which one? Most of them are already tied down, and our SpecTRe of choice, Nihlus Kryik, has been recently confirmed as killed in action, by Saren himself, no less." Tevos asked.

"Then create a new one. Humanity has been pushing for SpecTRehood for quite some time now, and giving one to them would allow for you to both placate them, while at the same time giving yourselves a weapon against Saren." I said. "I personally recommend Shepard; he is a decorated war hero, whose actions at Elysium and Torfan showed us that he is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done."

"Very well. However, I have one more question: What will you be doing during all this? I doubt that you will stay idle at C-sec" Tevos asked.

"You are correct." I said, turning to her. "I would have already left to go after the Reaper ship, and, through extension, Saren, but I was denied leave by the Executor Pallin. I wish for permission to be sent out after Saren as well, in order to make sure that his ship is destroyed." I answered.

"Permission granted. We will clear this up with Pallin and grant you the ability to go wherever you wish. However, I have one request of you." Sparatus said.

"And that is?"

"I want you to keep an eye on Shepard's progress, and if possible, I want you to insert yourself into his team of specialists. You are to report directly to us, keeping us updated on Shepard's progress, as well as to any threats you may discover. Can you do that?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now, please lower this silencing field."

I complied, stepping back to allow the councilors to make their decision.

* * *

Commander Hayden Shepard watched as the strangely armored figure stepped back from the Council, the strange sound-dampening field lowering, allowing the councilors' words to reach him once again. He watched the figure with suspicion.

"Regarding the danger posed to this galactic society by the rogue SpecTRe Saren Arterius, this council has seen fit to appoint a new SpecTRe in order to both replace Saren and bring him to justice." Tevos said.

'So that's who that guy is. Some hotshot Asari that's becoming the next SpecTRe.' Shepard thought.

"Commander Shepard- Step forward." Tevos suddenly said. Shepard took a look at Anderson, who nodded in response. Shepard stepped to the front of his group. He saw the people watching, human, turian, and otherwise, lean forward in anticipation.

"It is the decision of the council that you, Commander Hayden Shepard, be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel." Tevos said. This caught Shepard off guard. Why him? Wasn't that what the strange armored figure's purpose was?

"SpecTRes are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file." Valern contiuned, as if this entire ceremony had been rehearsed multiple times.

"SpecTRes are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will." Tevos said.

"SpecTRes bear a great burden. They are the protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of this galaxy is theirs to uphold." Sparatus said.

"You are the first human SpecTRe, Commander. This is a great accomplishment, both for you and your entire species." Tevos finished.

"I am honored, Councilor." Shepard heard himself say. However, his mind couldn't fully comprehend what had just happened. He was the first human SpecTRe! It was him that got the honor! That strange figure behind the councilors must be steaming in its armor right now!

"We are sending you into the traverse with two primary objectives. The first is to stop Saren, either by capturing, or failing that, killing him. The second, and more important objective, is to discover what proof you can of the Reapers' existence. We believe that Saren has gotten his hands on technology far too powerful to allow its continued existence, and that his mental state may be compromised by Reaper technology. Those are your orders, and you are authorized to execute them by any means necessary, using all resources at your disposal." Valern finished.

"Do you have any idea where I can find Saren?" Shepard asked.

"No. However, the second voice on that recording belonged to Matriarch Benezia, one of the most influential Asari matriarchs. Her daughter is conducting an archaeological dig in the Artemis Tau cluster. I recommend that you start there. We will forward any other relevant files to ambassador Udina." Tevos said.

"This meeting of the council is adjourned." Sparatus finished.

Shepard left the room, his team, composed of Wrex, Tali, Kaidan, Ashley, and Garrus, left the room, the spectators likewise leaving. Only the council stayed behind, composing a brief message to Executor Pallin, reminding him to let some of his assets go.

* * *

I strode into Pallin's office in full armor, weapons at my side.

"So, I assume my leave has been granted?" I asked, a broad smile on my face, hidden under the helmet.

"Yes. You are permitted to temporarily leave SpADE to go bring Saren Arterius to justice. I'm not happy about this, Michael." Pallin replied.

"Orders are orders." I responded.

"Yes, we both have our own. Mine, however, happen to order me to let two of my best assets, being you and officer Vakarian, leave my force for an indefinite period of time, reducing SpADE to nearly half strength. I wish you luck in whatever endeavor you are pursuing, as we need you here." Pallin said. His insincerity was clear, though.

"Goodbye, then." I said, leaving the office. I headed to my shuttle, which was parked on the roof of C-sec HQ.

"Serina, set course for Therum, in the Artemis Tau cluster." I ordered. Over the past few months, Serina had been familiarizing herself with the Mass Relay network, and we had confirmed that the constructs would work on the small Tenno craft. The Hunter's small FTL drive would allow it to navigate the system with ease, but the main problem came from getting into the system in the first place, due to the Hunter lacking interstellar capability. The problem had been solved through the installation of a small Mass Effect based FTL drive, although that came at the cost of adding in severe power draw, forcing me to cut all non-critical systems while in FTL.

The Tenno craft took off, cloaked from all sight. It headed for the Citadel Relay, its occupants ready to continue their journey through this new universe.

* * *

Inside the dark rooms of the Reaper warship, a figure clad from head to toe in almost organic looking armor stood. Beside him, a tall Turian stood as well. Both were watching the vid-screen, eyes looking at the ceremony, albeit focused on different figures.

"Is that the one?" The Turian asked, pointing to a tall armored figure standing behind the council.

"Yes. That is the one I want dead by my hand." The tall figure next to Saren replied.

"Good. He will most likely attempt to ally with Shepard, whom I wish dead as well. Shepard is the only one possessing the Prothean vision, aside from me, and he could potentially destroy everything that Sovereign and I have worked to accomplish." Saren said.

"Yes. The Traitor will most likely attempt to do the same. I will not let him. Sovereign has spoken to me, just as he has to you. He told me of his kind's true nature, and of the gifts they bring to the civilizations they harvest. I now know what became of the Orokin here, and I am bound to serve them."

"Good. Now, it is time to decide on a course of action. Do we go to Therum personally?" Saren asked.

"No. Leave Therum to the Geth. We need to analyze Shepard's combat ability against our allies, so that we can hope to defeat him ourselves."

"Very well. We will wait and observe, for now." Saren said, just as the vid of the ceremony finished playing.

Saren turned, walking out of the room, leaving the Stalker alone, pondering the Orokin of this universe. Their civilization lived onwards, albeit in a different form, and the Stalker was bound to serve them, his oaths holding true across universes.

* * *

**A/N: Here's the chapter in which ME1 begins in earnest. Now the pace of the story will slow down as the timeframe shrinks. Next stop: Therum.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7- Therum**

As the Hunter entered orbit around Therum, my scanners blared to life. While the FTL forced me to enter the system decloaked, the ship was also not emitting anything, allowing me to activate my cloak before I could be detected by the Geth cruisers in the system. Once in, I considered my options. The Hunter was armed, although I replaced the original Tenno cannons with a pair of Corpus industrial laser cutters that had their safeguards removed. While Tenno space weaponry was elegant, firing large bolts through magnetic acceleration, it just wasn't the same as flying around with a pair of laser cannon mounted on your ship.

Due to the nature of kinetic barriers, I would most likely be able to alpha strike at least one cruiser, and maybe kill two or three more in the resulting dogfight. However, Geth point defense lasers would most likely blast me out of the sky shortly afterward, rendering my efforts to join Shepard futile, unless Miranda Lawson or Miracle Max happened to be passing by. So, I decided to wait in cloak and observe. Soon, I realized that I had come to Therum just before the Geth invasion had started, as Geth frigates began to speed down towards the surface, most likely releasing armatures. Soon, the Geth fleet shot down a pair of shuttlecraft attempting to escape, most likely researchers caught on the ground during the Geth attack.

Several hours later, I decided to make my move. For my loadout, I decided to use the Stalker's bow as my main weapon, due to stealth being paramount. The Dread was not the first bow I had used on the battlefield, as I had honed my skills on the Cernos, however the Dread was far superior to the Cernos, being rivaled only by the Paris Prime. I then grabbed my two Cestra pistols, the plasma weapons being invaluable in a world of kinetic barriers. Finally, I grabbed my trusty Orthos staff, smiling at the familiar weapon's weight in my hand. I then stepped into my Liset, lying down inside the cramped compartment.

"Serina, alert me if any ships enter the system." I said, before activating the Liset.

The small shuttle shuddered as it detached from the larger craft carrying it, speeding down towards the planet's surface. Soon I was flying low over the volcanic terrain of Therum, searching for the area where I knew Liara would be trapped, namely a shaft leading down into a cliff, with a skeletal structure beside it. Soon, I found it. Several Geth Armatures were attempting to blast through the door leading into the ground, while other Geth were entering through several smaller side passages. A few corpses, all marked with the insignia of the Eclipse mercenary band, were spread out around the dig site, while others made a trail leading to a patch of scorched ground, most likely from a shuttle taking off. Several Geth were dragging the corpses away, most likely to turn them into husks later on.

"Serina, drop me off by the uppermost side passage, then perform an air strike against the Armatures attempting to break through the main entrance." I ordered.

"Acknowledged. Orders confirmed." The AI's voice sounded inside my helmet.

The bottom of the Liset opened up, and I dropped out, flipping over and landing on my feet. I was nearly silent, the Geth in front of me being completely oblivious to my presence. Nocking an arrow, I drew the bowstring back, elevating it by a few degrees, aiming, and then releasing. The arrow flew forward at a blinding speed, its path marked by a dim red line created by the energy blade at the arrow's tip. While arrows from Tenno bows were more than capable of cutting through synthetic materials, as evidenced by hundreds of MOAs that had been harpooned by the thin projectiles, the Dread's energy blade made it capable of punching effortlessly through multiple foes. The neat line of Geth stood no chance, the arrow traveling too slowly to be stopped by kinetic barriers. The neatly bisected Geth fell to the ground, while I went and retrieved my arrow. Sure, I had the resources stored onboard my shuttle to fabricate thousands more, but each arrow saved meant a small amount of resources saved as well.

The sound of cannon fire alerted me to my Liset moving in for an airstrike. While I had replaced the Hunter's cannon with laser cutters, I never had the chance to do so with my Liset's main armament, causing the small insertion craft to use a more standard combination of missiles and railguns. After two seconds of nonstop firing, Serina's voice sounded once again over my communicator.

"Airstrike successful. All armatures destroyed, but all missiles have been fired."

"Good work. Keep me alerted to any ships entering the system, and keep any Geth reinforcements from entering the dig site." I said.

"Very well." Serina said, before the Liset slowly shimmered back into invisibility, my area map indicating the small craft's position.

Entering the dig site proper, I slowly moved in, keeping an arrow nocked at all times. My warframe shifted into Volt configuration, as the electricity would be extremely effective against the Geth. The neat marching lines of Geth mobile platforms were easy prey, reminding me of my days shooting Grineer butchers that would storm at me in a similar line, pitiful cleavers swinging.

The sound of gunfire told me that there were still mercs fighting back, but the sound of Geth rifle fire quickly drowned them out. I took out small groups of Geth with my Dread, shocking others into forced de-activation with warframe abilities. Slowly but surely, I was making my way down to the area where Liara T'Soni was trapped.

"Help... me..." The gurgling voice of a mortally wounded Salarian stopped me in my tracks. I looked around, and saw a group of Merc corpses behind a waist-high wall of rock. One of them was still alive, its breathing barely noticeable even to my trained eyes.

I walked over to the Salarian, readying a shot of medi-gel. I injected it into the dying Salarian, the fluid immediately beginning to repair the wounds caused by the Geth, but it was not enough. It only served to make the final seconds of the Salarian's life slightly less painful.

"Thank... you." The Merc sighed, before its eyes closed for the last time, its breathing slowing to a halt, showing that the Salarian had died.

I moved on, weapon at the ready. A slash of my Orthos quickly ended a Geth that had chosen to go around the wrong corner at the wrong time. However, it also alerted the rest of the Geth nearby to my presence. Electrocuting the nearby patrol, I drew my Cestras, returning the Dread to its holder on my back. I raised them just in time to open up on another patrol that had moved towards my position, melting the synthetics in a torrent of plasma. The time for stealth was over.

"Alert. A starship matching the configuration of the SSV Normandy has entered the system. Optical sensors are tracking, but it is not registering on other forms of detection." Serina's voice suddenly chimed in.

"Its about time Shepard got here. Get the Hunter into atmo and cover any ground party that the Normandy may land." I ordered, Serina confirming.

I doubled my pace, intending to get to Liara first. Thankfully, she wasn't far away.

I saw her, trapped behind the force field, while several Geth were patrolling outside. Firing a lightning bolt from my warframe, I watched the Geth fry, dropping to the ground. Then, I dropped down, catching my first look at the trapped Asari.

"Whoever you are, please help me! I'm trapped!" She said, in a stereotypical damsel in distress voice.

"Liara T'soni, I presume?" I asked, blasting a Geth drone that attempted to sneak up on me.

"Yes! Please, get me out of here!" She said.

"How did you get yourself in there in the first place?" I asked.

"I tried to activate a Prothean security system to stave off the Geth, but I must have done something wrong!" She replied.

I did not reply, instead, shifting my warframe into a Loki configuration. Then, I activated its switch-teleport, reversing the positions of myself and the Asari doctor.

Then, I let my warframe shift again, this time into Ash, allowing me to teleport out of the Prothean field. I turned to see Liara's face become the picture of amazement.

"How..." Was all she could say before her vocal cords stopped working all together.

"I'll explain later." I said.

"Well then, let's get out of here." Liara said.

"No. There is someone else coming soon with a means of escape." I said, before sitting down to wait until Shepard finally arrived.

"Tea?" I asked, shifting into Hydroid and pouring some water into my Sentinel, before activating its Teamaker function. I don't know why the Lotus saw fit to include that in the latest models, but it helped with calming down after a period of combat..

* * *

The Mako did yet another barrel roll, its driver whooping in glee as the large APC rolled into one of the two Geth armatures, sending the walker flying into a pit of lava.

"KEELAH SHEPARD! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?" Tali screamed from the troop compartment. Her words fell on deaf ears, as Shepard, having somehow managed to right the Mako, sped towards the second armature, which was currently in a shutdown state, its logic processors having given out.

CRASH!

The Mako sent the second Geth creation flying, in several pieces too, before resuming its course towards the dig site where Liara T'soni was located. Continuing up the path, the Mako soon ran into another obstacle. A small outpost had been hurriedly constructed by the Geth, including several defense turrets, all of which had opened up on the wheeled tank.

However, anything Ashley or Kaidan said about a frontal attack being suicide were drowned out by what happened next.

A loud screech split the air, and a strange craft shimmered into existence, speeding down towards the Geth outpost. A volley of missiles shot downward from the underside of the craft, slamming into the Geth turrets. Then, coming to a hover, the craft fired a pair of bright orange laser beams from its underside, slicing through the reinforced Geth gate, as well as any Geth that were out in the open. Then the craft disappeared, vanishing into thin air as if it had never existed. The occupants of the Mako were silent for a few moments, before Garrus suddenly spoke up.

"If that was who I think it was... This mission just got a whole lot more complicated." He said simply, before falling silent, despite the curious looks that he drew.

"Who do you think that was?" Shepard asked from the front seat of the transport.

"I honestly don't know, everything we had on him in the C-sec database was obviously falsified. You've seen him too, at that council meeting where they made you a SpecTRe, He was the one who projected that silencing field around the council." Garrus replied.

"What is he? I thought he was some Asari at first, but you make it seem like he isn't." Shepard asked.

"I honestly don't know." Garrus said. Shepard did not ask any more questions, focusing instead on driving through the wrecked outpost.

They continued to drive towards the ruins, gunning down more Geth armatures and even a Colossus along the way. Then, they came to a large barrier of rocks, preventing them from continuing on. This did not seem to deter Shepard, though, who slammed the Mako into the rock barrier several times, before giving up when the Mako began to emit smoke.

"Everyone out, we're going the rest of the way on foot." He said, exiting through the side door. Wrex clambered down from the Turret, shotgun at the ready, while the rest of the team exited through the back door. Proceeding around, they came under fire from a large group of Geth that had set up a killzone. The squad hunkered down behind rocks, taking the occasional pot-shot with sniper rifles. Garrus managed to score a few hits, even taking out a few, showing unusual skill for an ordinary C-sec member. Then, the sound of the unknown aircraft came again, the ship decloaking and spraying the area with laser fire, slicing apart any Geth that didn't attempt to take cover in what little time they had to do so. Then, the ship cloaked once again, leaving Shepard's squad awestruck.

Continuing on, the squad moved up to an area outside the dig site. The area was notable for several Geth Armature corpses lying dead in various stages of dismemberment next to the entrance to the dig site proper, most likely victims of an airstrike.

The squad was brought back to reality by the scream of incoming drop pods. The loud footfalls of a Geth walker sent the squad running for cover. The armature, as well as a group of supporting Geth, opened fire. Then, the sound of the unknown aircraft came again, and a pair of laser beams lanced into the Geth armature, the Geth walker exploding into a shower of fire and debris. The Geth turned, attempting to open fire, only for Shepard's squad to open up, quickly gunning down the machines.

"Damn, Turian. Whoever your friend is, he certainly likes stealing my kills." Wrex said. Garrus either didn't hear him or did not choose to respond.

The squad moved into the excavation site tunnel, Tali unlocking the sealed door. As they proceeded into the tunnel, Shepard began to wonder about the lack of Geth inside the dig site proper. That question was answered as they came across a line of Geth, each one neatly sliced down the middle.

"Its him alright." Garrus said, looking at the downed Geth.

Proceeding down the passageway, the squad came across more Geth, most of them sliced into pieces, while others seemed to have been melted somehow. Then, Wrex noticed something stuck deep into the wall. Pulling it free with some effort, Wrex looked at the bent and damaged arrow in his hand. The energy blade at the front flickered slightly, attempting to stay active.

"Garrus, is this one of your friend's weapons?" He asked.

"I've seen this before, but I always thought that bow was some antique." Garrus replied.

"Bow?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah. You'll see for yourself." Garrus said.

Then, the squad finally reached their destination, and its members were stopped cold once again.

* * *

I finished my tea just in time for Shepard's squad to arrive. Liara sat a few meters away, drinking out of her own fabricated cup. (Thankfully the nanobots auto-sterilized.)

My eyes fell on Garrus as he walked in right after the commander, Wrex and Ashley following him, with Kaidan and Tali bringing up the rear.

"Garrus, what are you doing here?" I asked, although I knew the answer. The rest of the squad was too busy inspecting my loadout, eyeing my Orthos and Dread with curiosity.

"I should ask the same of you, Michael." Garrus replied.

"I'm here on Council orders. They didn't think one elite operative was enough to take out our Turian friend." I replied.

"So you're stopping Saren by going after Dr. T'soni?" Shepard asked, joining the conversation.

"Saren? What do I have to do with him?" Liara asked as well. Shepard turned to her.

"As you may already know, Saren was behind the recent attack on Eden Prime. We have recently found out that your mother, Matriarch Benezia, has allied with him." Shepard said.

"What? I have nothing to offer her! I haven't even spoken to her in years!" Liara responded.

"Saren is after a Prothean artifact known as the Conduit, and he may have thought your expertise may have helped him in his attempts to locate it." I said, drawing looks from the rest of the group. "What? I heard the recording too!"

"The Conduit? I don't even know what that is, much less what its purpose is!"

"Saren believes that it will allow him to bring back a machine race known as the Reapers, which were responsible for wiping out the Protheans." Shepard said.

"What? I know nothing about Saren's insanity!" Liara pleaded.

"Are you sure we can trust her? For all we know, this was an elaborate set-up." Ashley asked.

"She's trustworthy. I know when someone's lying, and the Doctor is not." I replied.

"We can discuss this later. For now, we need to get out of here." Shepard said, cutting the conversation short.

The squad, now including myself and Liara, moved out of the dig site, going back the way we came. Then, as we were about halfway to the exit, the entire mountain shook. Someone must have set charges to de-stabilize the volcano, and Shepard said as much, before asking Joker to get the Normandy ready for evac. We sprinted for the exit, only to find ourselves blocked by a Krogan and a team of Geth.

"I knew setting the charges would draw you out! Now, if you would please hand over the doctor?" The Krogan asked.

"This area's falling apart! We need to get out of here!" Shepard said.

"Sets the mood perfectly, doesn't i-" The Krogan never had a chance to finish. I nocked an arrow, pulled back the string, and let go. The shaft flew across the small cavern, hitting the Krogan right in the intended area.

"WRAAAAAAGGGGHHH!" The Krogan screamed in pain as the energy field tipping the arrow sliced off both its head plate and a good portion of its hump. A second later, I had already swapped my Dread for my Orthos. I fired a pulse of electricity at the Geth, sending them tumbling to the ground, before activating a speed boost and charging towards the Krogan, putting the lizard out of its misery. That was about when Shepard's squad opened fire on any remaining Geth, quickly taking them down.

Garrus and I were the first out of the dig site, our wallrunning abilities serving us well. Shepard and Wrex followed, with the rest of the team following. The Normandy then swooped in, ready to pick us up, and I was onboard.

"Serina, get to orbit and follow the Normandy." I ordered, making sure my helmet speakers were offline.

"Too close, Commander. 10 more seconds and we would have been swimming in molten sulfur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land inside exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference." Joker's voice came over the intercom as we headed up to the de-briefing room, the Normandy's crewmen casting some odd looks in my direction.

* * *

As soon as we had entered the de-briefing room, Shepard immediately turned to me.

"Allright, start talking. Who are you?"

"You can call me Tenno or Michael Patterson. My real name is classified." I responded.

"Next question: What the hell were you doing down there?"

"Providing air support and making sure the doctor was safe."

"Good. Now, what's your stake in all this? Why are you going after Saren?"

"Saren's just an unfortunate victim of all this. I couldn't care less about that Turian bastard. However, what concerns me is that ship he owns, Sovereign."

"The Reaper Dreadnought?"

"Yes. Reaper technology has an odd property that causes insanity in any organic that is exposed to it for extended periods of time. Saren has, unfortunately, learned this the hard way. My orders are to A. Make sure that the Reaper Dreadnought is taken out, and B. Obtain irrefutable proof of the Reaper threat. I have the Council convinced, but they need facts before they can act."

"Good enough. However, why work independently? You can join the Normandy's team of specialists, and judging by what I saw, you could be a great asset to this team." Shepard said. I was not expecting such a direct offer, nor was I expecting it to come so soon.

"Wait, Shepard. How do you know we can trust him? For all we know, he's working for those aliens on the Council, with orders to stab us all in the back!" Ashley said. Inwardly, I sighed.

"If I wanted you all dead, you would all be corpses in unmarked graves by now, with the exception of Garrus, who may have been able to escape." I shot back.

"And that's another thing. How do you know Garrus?" Ashley asked.

"We've worked together before, and I've trained him. That wallrunning you saw back in the ruins? I taught him that." I replied.

"Fine. I will be watching you, though." Ashley said, her tone of voice attempting, and failing, to have an intimidating quality to it. To me, a Tenno who had to deal with Meria, who could be downright TERRIFYING at times, Ashley just came across as a joke.

"Any other objections to having Ten-oh here on our crew?" Shepard asked.

"Its Tenno." I corrected him. He shot me an annoyed look. Nobody raised an objection, although I saw Tali staring at me intently, with a look I had only ever seen on Alad V himself. She likely wanted to dissect my Warframe for valuable tech.

"Very well, then. Welcome to the team, Tenno." Shepard said.

"Thank you. However, the question of what to do with my own ship still remains. Its too big to fit into the hangar bay. I have a solution, but it may detrimentally affect the performance of this ship." I said.

"What is your solution?" Shepard asked. In response, I brought up the hologram that Serina and I had worked on while we were en-route to Therum.

"My solution is this: My ship is capable of attaching to the hull of a larger vessel, using laser cutters to slice into its hull. While normally used for boarding action, I could modify this system to allow my ship to attach to the underside of the Normandy without spacing the lower deck when it removes itself, but the added mass could interfere with the stealth drive and FTL, among other things." I said. Then Tali spoke up.

"It should not be a problem. On the Migrant fleet, our liveships are constantly changing, having makeshift habitation modules attached to the outside of the hull. With the Normandy's oversized drive core, I should be able to alter its mass effect field generator to include your ship. The Stealth drive utilizes the ship's Mass Effect field to operate, so this should extend it over your ship as well. However, the added mass will decrease the Normandy's agility, while slightly slowing its FTL speed and reducing its Stealth Drive's effective duration." Tali said, catching me by surprise.

"Very well. You are clear to proceed with ship attachment." Shepard said.

"Serina, we are clear to attach the Hunter to the Normandy." I made sure my helmet speakers were, once again, offline. Knowing that there was an AI onboard could make Tali less... willing to attach the Hunter, making a mishap at FTL speed quite possible.

"Now that that's settled, let's get back to the topic at hand. Liara, do you know anything at all about the Reapers, the Conduit, or your mother?" Shepard asked.

"No on all counts. I know nothing about the Reapers, I've never heard of the Conduit, and I haven't spoken to my mother in years!" Liara replied. "In fact, I am quite curious as to how you know about the Reapers."

"On Eden Prime, Saren was after a Prothean beacon. Said beacon gave me some sort of vision, which showed the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers." Shepard said.

"Ah, Prothean Beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. You must be remarkably strong willed, commander. A lesser mind would have been destroyed." Liara said. "Now I understand why you and Saren needed my expertise. You want me to help make sense of the vision."

"Exactly." Shepard replied.

"I am afraid that, without the actual beacon, I can only do so much. However, I have an idea. If you let me meld with you, I may be able to make sense of the images inside your head." Liara said.

"You have my permission." Shepard said. Liara walked up to him, placing her hands on his head.

"Embrace eternity!" She said, eyes turning pure black. I rolled my own eyes under the helmet.

After what seemed like a second, Liara let go, putting her hand to her own.

"What did you find?" Shepard asked.

"The vision was incomplete. The Beacon must have been damaged, so it did not transmit the whole thing. I was unable to make any sense of it." Liara suddenly gave a massive yawn.

"Are you alright?" Shepard asked.

"Just tired. Melding is an exhausting experience. Some rest will help." Liara said. Shortly afterward, the meeting broke apart, its members going in separate directions.

* * *

I headed down to the hangar to supervise the hunter's attachment. Shepard joined me.

"Ready when you are." I said.

"You are cleared to proceed. Joker, be ready." Shepard said, most likely having explained the upcoming procedure to Joker.

"Uh, Commander? The Geth ships are long gone, and our scanners aren't picking up any other ships in the system." The pilot's voice came over the intercom.

"Serina, bring the ship out of cloak. No sense in keeping the ship invisible." I ordered, this time out loud.

"Acknowledged, operator." The flat voice of a VI answered.

"SON OF A-" Joker's scream came over the intercom as the Hunter de-cloaked itself.

"Joker, you're still transmitting." Shepard said. What followed was a set of expletives, coupled with a shuffling noise, before the intercom went offline.

"The pilot sure is... interesting." I said.

"Joker may act like the biggest idiot you ever knew, but he's the best damn pilot in the alliance." Shepard replied.

"Operator. The ship is in position. Beginning modified attachment procedure." Serina's VI voice said over my helmet comm.

The ship vibrated slightly as the Hunter touched the Normandy. During the attachment, the Liset would be used to cut a hole into the Normandy's hull. Then, the small craft would act like an airlock, allowing access to the ship proper. The main problem would be the inverse gravity fields, but with some gymnastics in the Liset, navigating between the two ships would be easy. Soon, the floor was briefly lit up in a bright square as the panel of floor fell away, revealing the entrance to the Hunter.

"Attachment procedure successful." Serina reported.

"Commander, the new guy's ship's latched on to our own, but we can't move the ship until Tali's calibrations are finished." Joker said once again.

"Good. I'll get down to engineering to see what the ETA is on Tali's modifications." Shepard replied, walking away. I followed him, ordering Serina to keep me updated on any developments that may arise.

Tali turned to us as soon as we entered.

"Shepard! And whoever you are." She began. "The alterations to the Mass Effect field are almost done, it was fairly simple extending it. However, the Stealth drive and kinetic barrier will take longer to calibrate, maybe a few hours." Tali said.

"Good. We will be heading to the Citadel next, so there will be plenty of time to make the necessary alterations." Shepard said.

"I'll try to get them done by the time we get to the Citadel." Tali said, before turning away, engrossed in her work. As we left main engineering, I made it a point to talk to her later.

"So, Tenno. Now that your ship's a part of the Normandy, will you explain a few things to me?" Shepard asked.

"Ask." I replied.

"How did you manage to get a full optical cloaking device and laser cannons onboard that ship, and more importantly, can you fit those on the Normandy?" Shepard asked.

"Shepard, when you have over 300 years to yourself, you get bored, and when you're bored, you stave off that boredom in any way possible." I replied.

"That makes no sense. Some Asari would have found it by now, and 300 years? You're not an Asari, and you sure as hell aren't a krogan, so what are you?" Shepard asked.

"To counter your first point, the Asari are adapted to long lives. In a single Asari lifetime, we went from prop-driven aircraft and chemically powered rockets to starships and Mass Effect tech. The Asari, meanwhile, have been around for thousands of years, and all they've done is create the best, most efficient fashion of the year! The reason for this is that the Asari are used to extremely slow change, their lifetimes being long, so they have no urge to evolve as a race, they wish for their lives to remain the same without massive, lifechanging events happening to disrupt their day-to-day activities. Thus, their matriarchs, determined to keep this society, which they see as a model of perfection, see no need to change. Their projection of perfection, meanwhile, drags other races down with them into the same stagnation, the same reliance on the Mass Relays. Rather than create better FTL, or make our own relays, we stay stagnant, using the existing constructs, and only a few of them at that!" Shepard turned to me, eyebrows raised.

"To answer your second question, I am over 300 years old. I was born in 1819, and was abducted by an Asari fringe group looking to create super-soldiers. I was augmented, and eventually released when a fellow experiment got loose and killed everyone at the Grustrag facility. Long story short, only half of me is human, giving me longevity that is at least on par with that of Asari. This is all I am willing to disclose at the moment." I said. Personally, I didn't see why I had to lie to him. Maybe to build some drama to my grand revelation of my true nature, maybe because I had gotten used to living a lie, so much so that one more didn't hurt.

"May I perform an inspection of your ship? I need to make sure that there is nothing onboard that could threaten the mission." Shepard asked.

'Yeah, right. You just want to look at the laser cannons.' I thought to myself, but I nodded, allowing him access.

Due to the inverted gravity field, entering the Hunter was tricky at best. It was a leap of faith, requiring you to dive headfirst into the entrance hatch in the middle of the Hangar floor. Then, the gravity field would reverse, allowing you to land on your feet. I had experience with this, so I just dove in, sticking my landing. A perfect 10, if I do say so myself. Then, I had to dive out of the way as Shepard attempted to enter- feet first.

"What the- OWW FUCK!" Shepard screamed as his head slammed into the floor of the shuttle.

"Inverted gravity field. Dive in headfirst next time." I said as Shepard nursed his head. Administering a brief shot of medical nanites, because, as the saying goes, nanites fix everything, I allowed Shepard to stand.

"Would it hurt to put some padding on that area of the floor?" Shepard asked.

"It might be a good investment. Dents may be difficult to remove, if you continue to enter like that." I replied.

Shepard grunted in response. I began my tour.

"As you can see, this is the Liset entry chamber. Please avoid jumping through the gravity inversion fields until you have properly oriented yourself." I said, chuckling at Shepard's groan.

I entered the next room, which happened to be the armory.

"Next up is the armory. Please refrain from touching anything, or you will find yourself in all kinds of pain. I doubt the ship's doctor will be able to fix you if you manage to phage your hand off." I said.

"Phage?" Shepard asked.

"Gun that shoots corrosive beams. They ignore kinetic barriers, and melt quickly through armor and flesh alike. Nasty, but effective." I said, stowing away my weapons into their respective storage units, the Dread going into a more makeshift compartment that I had hurriedly assembled to house the gear from the Stalker. The average Hunter had storage for three loadouts, while the gear I had acquired from the Stalker made a fourth, so I had to perform maintenance on that gear manually. Fortunately, the Stalker's gear was easy to maintain.

"What other weapons do you have?" Shepard asked, curiosity clear in his voice.

"Soma LMG, Dread bow, Phage beam gun, Synapse lightning caster, Twin Cestra rotary plasma pistols, Angstrum rocket pistol, Twin Stiletto machine pistols, Despair throwing knives, Orthos staff, Nikana, Pangolin ceremonial sword, and Hate scythe. If you want more, please build a dedicated firing range on the Normandy or hop into the training simulator on the upper deck." I said.

"Simulator?" Shepard asked. I ignored him, continuing with my tour.

"In that back room, you'll find Stewie, my pet saber-tooth tiger. Please refrain from petting Stewie." I said, ignoring Shepard's look of curiosity.

"Follow me to the upper deck." I said, practically dragging Shepard out of the armory.

"Up here is the control room. Behind here is the simulator room and the rear access ramp. Now, any questions?" I asked. Shepard just stared at me.

"Saber Tooth tiger?" Was his first question.

"Stewie. He's a highly evolved Saber Tooth species. Please refrain from entering his quarters." I replied.

"How did you... never mind. I'm more interested in this simulator that you mentioned. I assume that it is a method of either training or keeping your skills sharp?" Shepard asked.

"The simulator is as virtual reality area that allows for the user to experience extremely realistic combat scenarios. Ask Garrus about it, he's had some experience with it." I replied.

"Can I try it out?" Shepard asked.

"Be my guest. Serina, load combat simulation four." I ordered, before leading Shepard into the simulator room. The commander stepped into the chamber, before the machine activated. I kept an eye on the screen, watching Shepard's progress. He quickly gunned down a wave of the simulated thugs that I programmed in for SpADE training. Then, I had an idea.

"Serina, switch simulator enemy set to 'Infestation'." I ordered, and watched as the next wave came, this time composed of chargers and runners, with a few Ancients mixed in. As I predicted, the Mass Effect powered peashooter that Shepard had chosen was next to useless against these new enemies, the grains of tungsten fired being simply absorbed by the metallic flesh of the Infested. To his credit though, Shepard didn't flinch, instead adopting new tactics. Keeping his distance, he began pounding the Infested with biotic strikes, isolating the ancients before charging into them, shattering their bodies.

"Switch enemy set to Corpus." I said, and the next wave came in the form of the box-headed Corpus crewmen, along with long legged MOAs. Shepard was quickly forced behind cover as the plasma weapons from the Corpus ignored his kinetic barriers, forcing him to rely on his armor for protection. Said armor was also designed to protect against kinetic weapons, limiting its effectiveness. This, coupled with the reckless charges of Corpus MOAs, took him down quickly, the simulation ending with a Fusion MOA drone cutting him down.

"What the hell were those?" Shepard asked, stepping out of the pod. He was looking down at his clothes, making sure there weren't any laser burns bisecting him.

"Something I made up in my spare time." I replied. Shepard obviously was not buying it.

"I know bullshit when I see it. If you have any secrets that may endanger the mission, you need to clear the air before someone gets hurt." Shepard said.

"I will tell you when the time is right. Until then, what I know will remain with me." I said. Shepard then turned and left, heading back through the Liset tunnel. The loud SLAM! indicated that he forgot to orient himself correctly once again.

"Skipper?!" Ashley's voice rang out across the cargo hold, being joined by a loud guffaw from Wrex. It was answered by Shepard groaning in pain. I followed the commander into the Normandy, diving headfirst, landing on my feet.

"Shepard, the gravity's inverted in my ship. Remember to go in headfirst." I said in an amused voice, earning another snicker from the Krogan battlemaster watching the spectacle.

"You might want to see Dr. Chakwas about that injury, it looks serious." Ashley said, helping Shepard to his feet. He leaned on her as she led him to the elevator.

"Serina, please put up some kind of holographic indicator that tells people entering the Hunter to dive in face first." I ordered, a holo-sign springing into existence moments later. With entry to my ship made somewhat safe for the inexperienced, I decided to move around the ship, wanting to get to know the crew.

* * *

**A/N: Originally, I intended to split this chapter into two smaller ones, each one about 3k words in length. I want to ask, which one do you readers prefer? Do you want longer chapters, and I may be able to stretch length into the 10k word range, or do you guys want faster updates at the expense of chapter length?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8- When Aboard the Normandy**

The first crewman I decided to get to know was Wrex, for obvious reasons. Everyone's favorite (or second-favorite if you like Grunt more) Krogan was the closest crewman to my entry point, leaning against a stack of crates while scowling at Garrus, who was currently stuck with nothing to do, as the Mako was somewhere down on Therum. Ashley was absent from her usual spot, having taken Shepard to the medbay due to the latter sustaining minor head trauma from entering and exiting my ship the wrong way. I assumed that Tali was down in engineering, while Kaidan and Liara were somewhere on the upper decks.

"So I finally get to meet the little Pyjak who stole all my kills down on Therum. I lost my bet with Garrus over there because of you." Wrex said, his voice serious, but betraying a small hint of admiration. "And then, when I have an opportunity to make a comeback, you come in, electrocute half the Geth, and chop up a Krogan warlord, all before I could raise my gun. They don't train that at C-sec."

"You're right about that. I was... hired by C-sec after I saved the Council from Batarian extremists, although knowing Batarians, they were probably being bankrolled by the Hegemon himself." I replied.

"That was you? Damn, I heard they were cleaning Batarian blood out of the Council chamber for a week after you finished up in there!" Wrex said.

"I think it was closer to three days, but it wasn't much of a challenge. They were untrained Zealots, given sub-par Batarian made weapons and sent in to take the Council. Its a miracle they even made it into the Council chamber."

"I see. How did you get the skills required? Your weapons are unusual, to say the least, and yet you are capable of using bows and swords effectively in an age of mass accelerators. How did you train yourself to get those abilities, not to mention the weapons themselves?" Wrex asked.

"You pick up a lot over three hundred years." I said.

"Bullshit. You are a human! Humans barely live to see two hundred with modern medical technology!" Wrex said. I replied by telling him the same lie that I told everyone else, about how I was abducted by an Asari fringe group and augmented. In response, Wrex snorted.

"You're going to have to try harder than that. I've lived for more than five hundred years, and I know when someone's lying. The commander may have bought it, but I will not." Wrex said.

"I don't expect you to believe it, Wrex. However, were I to tell you the real truth, you would think that I've gone insane. Just accept it for now, and maybe I'll decide to tell you the real story." I said. Wrex grunted in response, indicating that he was done talking. I walked away to meet with Garrus, who had found something to calibrate while Wrex and I were talking.

"Garrus." I began the conversation. The Turian in question spun around, putting down the automatic calibrator that he was calibrating.

"Mic- Tenno, what do you want?" Garrus asked.

"A conversation, namely your opinion about all this." I replied.

"What can I say? Part of me is happy to have a real job again in place of the crap assignments they gave us back at SpADE during the later months, but the other half of me thinks that I've bit off way more than I could chew. It all boils down to if we can stop Saren, because if we can't, he'll bring back the Reapers and we're all screwed." Garrus said.

"At least we've got the best working on it. With the team we have, our chances of success couldn't be better."

"Thanks, I guess..."

"I wasn't talking about you, you're just along for the ride." I joked.

"You wound me, sir. Here I was, thinking that you picked me for SpADE thinking that I was one of the best." Garrus replied.

"Nah, I just hit the wrong button when I looked over your report." Garrus chuckled in response.

"Well, I'm stuck with you now, for better or for worse."

"You've got an augmented space ninja guarding your back, it could get a whole lot worse."

"Who, Shepard? She's a good soldier, but I don't think he qualifies as a space ninja just yet! But back to a more serious topic. I saw the looks on the councilors' faces when they heard the word 'Reaper'. Then, seconds later, they call you up and have a secret conversation in front of all of us! If that isn't suspicious, I don't know what is. Tell me, how did the Councilors hear of the Reapers before now?" Garrus asked.

"Why, I told them, of course."

"But how did you hear about them?"

"The augments that were forced into me were based off of Reaper tech. They couldn't use the real thing due to its insanity inducing properties, likely a safeguard to prevent Reaper tech from being efficiently reverse-engineered, but Black Light got by well enough."

"And I assume you found their source of Reaper tech after you escaped?"

"Correct. It was a Reaper frigate, found derelict in two pieces. Likely a relic from the Prothean war."

"What happened to it?"

"After I escaped Grustrag, I watched the facility go up in a massive fireball. Nothing, Reaper or otherwise, could have taken that kind of damage and remained intact. Right now, its most likely space dust."

"Where was this 'Grustrag' facility located?"

"I don't know, I didn't even know how to operate a star chart back then, much less find my position on it."

"I have to admit, that you have a good cover story going." Garrus said, suddenly.

"Cover story?" I asked, taken aback.

"Yes. After hearing your story for the first time, I did a little digging, called up some contacts of mine, and I found no trace that any Asari group called 'Project Black Light' even existed, no matter how high up the Classified Documents list I dug using my SpADE clearance. That, in turn, led me to investigate some other flaws in your story, such as the name 'Grustrag'. That word is meaningless, no matter what language I search in, and I've looked in every language known, ranging from Asari to ancient Krogan. No system or planet is known to have that name either. Finally, there's the tech I've seen you use. Plasma guns, corrosive laser cannons, a bow capable of bisecting a Geth Prime with no trouble, armor that seems to bend the laws of physics, the list goes on. A single one of those would net you enough to buy a planet should the plans go into circulation, so I performed a number of scans of your 'Cestra' to see how it was made. I found that it was made of a metal that my Omni-tool couldn't recognize, contained a strange material that seemed to be a blend of synthetic nanofibers and organic spores, and to top it all off, a pair of semi-organic computers that my Omni-tool assumed were illegal control implants! Oh, and don't even get me started on the 'Phage'. The point is, you've got tech that's hundreds, if not thousands, of years ahead of the current standard! You excuse of 'I was bored, so I made it', doesn't cut it, so please, explain how many super-geniuses you have trapped in that ship of yours!" Garrus finished his rant.

"Garrus, I commend you for your detective skills. I suppose you, of all people, have earned an explanation. Do you want me to make up a believable cover story, or do you want the truth, which will make you petition for my medical discharge?" I asked.

"The truth. I don't care how insane it is. I want the full truth." Garrus said. In response, I motioned to the Hunter's entrance. As we dropped in, my Turian friend landing on his feet, unlike a certain Commander.

"Come with me." I said, leading Garrus into a room on the upper decks, where we could talk without interruptions. "Serina, lock the Liset port, and make sure nobody comes through."

"Acknowledged, operator." Serina said, the sound of the entrance sliding shut following moments later.

I leaned against a wall, Garrus sitting down on one of the tables cluttering the foundry room.

"What I tell you now does not leave this room without my permission." I said.

"And that is?" Garrus asked.

"My real origin. I did not lie about my age back at C-sec. By my count, I am three hundred and eighty-five years old, and using the rest of my kind as a reference point, I am extremely young. I am a member of a... Transhuman order of warriors known as the Tenno."

"Bullshit. How did humans discover transgenics back when their most powerful weapon was a cast-iron tube filled with gunpowder?"

"Not this humanity." I said.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you familiar with the multiverse theory?"

"I've heard of it, something about other universes. I never paid much attention to it, being more focused on keeping the Citadel secure."

"Its true, although it could use a little refining. I know that, because the Tenno are from a completely different universe, and I happen to have been sent here by an accident involving a metric ton of cloned super-soldiers, an insane ancient Tenno who both augmented me and tried to kill me numerous times, and an inter-dimensional transporter carried by said insane Tenno."

"You're obviously making this up." Garrus said, attempting to leave, but I blocked him.

"Serina, access helmet logs. Mission 39221GS. Pull them up on a holoscreen in this room. Play the recording beginning at twenty-three minutes into the mission." I said. Garrus stopped trying to bypass my arm, his eyes going to the holoscreen.

The video began with a Liset departing from the hull of a Grineer galleon, armor plate sliding over the hole it left. The footage was shaky, due to the fact that the camera taking it was mounted on a rapidly moving helmet, but the contents were clear enough. It was of me, slicing through the prime Grineer, less than an hour before I would enter the Mass Effect universe. Garrus' eyes widened as he watched me effortlessly cut through hordes of Grineer with nothing but my Nikana. I sped through the few minutes I spent killing the prime Grineer. Then, I slowed the video to normal speed as the Stalker made his appearance. My fight with him lasted for barely over a minute, but it ended with me wounded, and my old foe dead and bisected. I watched the footage cut as I made my way onto the my personal ship, dragging my foe's dead body unceremoniously behind me.

The two of us were silent for a period of time. Then Garrus spoke.

"Damn... you were right." He said, simply. "However, that still doesn't explain one thing. I talked to the officer who arrested you in the wards. He told me that you acted strangely, but seemed to know exactly what was going on. A dimensionally displaced person would have trouble figuring out which end of the Citadel was the presidium, and yet you managed to rescue the councilors and start SpADE, all within two days of your arrival. You can't have been here long, as I dug up a conversation you had with a certain Turian captain, coupled with the cruiser's sensor logs."

"Now this is where it starts to get a little mindfuck-y. You see, I was not born in the Tenno dimension either. I was born in a third universe, where humanity has yet to discover Eezo, if such a thing even exists there. Its completely unremarkable, except for one thing. This universe, as well as the Tenno one, are both subjects of video games back in my birth dimension. I happened to have played said games."

"Damn, you sound like a Galaxy of Fantasy Self Insert writer."

"Shh, Garrus, you could break the fourth wall back in yet another dimension!"

"What? What does that even mean?"

"Nevermind. What matters is, I know exactly what's going to happen, up to a certain point anyway. You see, I know the beginning and the middle, but the end is unknown to me, because I never had a chance to play Mass Effect 3, although I heard that its ending sucked."

"Wait, so you know everything that will happen, but you don't know how all this will end?"

"Yes. However, I won't tell you. Rest assured, though, that you were one of the most well-liked characters in the series. Had Shepard been a woman, you would have been one of the most picked romance options for her."

"Wait, Shepard could have been female?"

"Yes, character creation and all that."

"How does that even... nevermind. What happens to me?"

"I can't tell you, or you will take action and screw it all up. I do aim to change a few things that happen, and should they affect you, I will make sure that you know in advance. However, I need to make sure that the timeline stays as intact as possible so that my edits will work, as the more I change, the less accurate the remainder of my knowledge is."

"I see. Well, it was nice talking to you. Now, you've added 'Clear up the massive mindfuck you've given me' to my list of things to do."

"Remember, this stays between us and anyone else I choose to share it with. If you tell this to anyone without my permission, I'm going to make sure you don't live long enough to regret it, continuity be damned."

"Got it." Garrus said, leaving the room. I followed him out, noticing that Ashley had returned to her station, cleaning her weapons. She looked at me, then at Garrus, distrust clear in her eyes. I walked over to her, intending to talk to her next.

"Ok, I don't know who the hell you are, but as long as you stay the hell away from the Commander and me, everything will be fine." Ashley said.

"What, you're afraid of my good looks? I assure you that if I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be here talking to me, rather you, Shepard, and the Normandy would all be a pile of space dust."

"That doesn't exactly make me want to trust you."

"I know. However, we're stuck together on this mission. Lodge all the formal complaints you want with the Commander, he's not giving up an asset like me. It would be best if you could put aside your differences with the rest of the crew and learn to work together with them."

"Work with the aliens? I can do that. Trust them? No. All the aliens look out for themselves. We humans need to stand strong alone, because they sure as hell won't be there to catch us when we fall."

"That almost sounds like something a Cerberus member would say."

"What? Those terrorists are almost as bad as the aliens!"

"Then prove you mean it by not quoting the Illusive Man's manifesto verbatim! Why are you so anti-alien anyway? Is this because of your father?" Ashley froze as she heard me say that. Seconds later, I blocked a punch aimed straight at my face.

"Dammit, are you going to give me shit about him too? I know my grandfather surrendered at Shanxi! I know that-"

I never gave her a chance to continue, as my right hand seemed to move of its own accord. A controlled backhanded strike across her face sent Ashley to the floor.

"Your father did the right thing. Would you rather have Shanxi be a dead colony because your grandfather was too prideful to surrender? Would you prefer that the Alliance fleets destroyed themselves in a pointless war with the Citadel? Civilians were dying to Turian orbital strikes, would you rather that your Grandfather had all their blood on his hands? General Williams was not the spineless coward that the Alliance made him out to be! Now get up, see Dr. Chakwas, and lose the xenophobic bitch attitude, because whether you like it or not, you are on this mission with a Turian, a Quarian, an Asari, a Krogan, and me, so you might as well learn to work together with them without causing problems." I finished shouting, offering Ashley a hand, which she took. She stumbled off to the elevator, most likely to go see Dr. Chakwas.

I saw Garrus and Wrex staring at me, although with different expressions on their faces, Wrex with disinterest, while Garrus with undisguised curiosity. I winked at Garrus, the Turian nodding in acknowledgement, Wrex watching the silent exchange. With that, I walked to engineering, intending to speak to Tali. I entered the engineering room, seeing the Quarian in question engrossed in her work. She sensed my approach and turned.

"Oh, Tenno, is it? What do you want?" Tali asked, clearly nervous.

"I just wanted to thank you. Without your skills with the drive core, my ship's attachment to the Normandy would have crippled both vessels." I replied.

"Thank you... I guess. Now what is your real reason for coming down here?"

"Just getting to know the team I will be working with on the ground."

"Ok, is there anything you want to know about me?"

"Yes. Would you, given the opportunity, attempt to dissect my armor and strip my ship for valuable tech?" I asked.

"Just because I'm a Quarian doesn't mean that I'll try to steal and dissect any piece of tech I find!"

"I didn't intend to be racist. However, during the de-briefing in the conference room I saw you giving my armor a look that some... less reputable characters have given me over the years, and every one of them has attempted to dissect my armor, with me inside. I understand your interest in acquiring this tech for your pilgrimage, but I want to tell you that a simple request will get you a lot more than a soldering iron."

"How do you know about our pilgrimage?"

"It is my business to know a lot of things, Tali. I know what is expected of you, due to who your father is, and I am willing to assist you in acquiring said gift."

Before Tali could respond, Commander Shepard walked up behind me.

"Tenno. Do you care to explain why Ashley Williams is in the med bay with a shattered jaw?" He asked.

"We had a slight altercation in the cargo bay regarding her xenophobic attitude. Nothing too severe." I replied.

"That injury will likely keep her in the med bay for at least a week, maybe longer, and you say 'Nothing too severe'?"

"If I hadn't controlled my strike, I would have killed her. I would say that is an improvement."

"You almost killed her?"

"No. I merely intended to bring her back to her senses."

"By almost killing her?!"

"No. I am fully confident in my abilities to control my body when attacking non-lethally. If you are concerned about Williams' temporary absence from the combat roster, I have a simple solution." I said, removing a vial of medical nanites from my armor. While it was a fraction of the amount needed to heal a fatal wound, a small amount should be enough to accelerate the healing of poor Ashley's broken jaw.

"Transfer a medical scan of Ashley into this, and then inject the nanites inside. It should repair any damage with little to no problem." I said. The nanites inside were modified by me to work with non-Tenno physiology, although the nanites would remain inert until a detailed medical scan of the subject was transferred into the control system contained within the vial. Injecting nanites without a scan upload, however, would cause the nanites to assume Tenno physiology, as I had found out early in my career as a Tenno. It was only thanks to my own nanobots that the medical nanites didn't tear me apart from the inside.

"Let me guess, that vial contains yet another piece of tech supposedly from the Grustrag facility that's hundreds of years ahead of anything the galaxy has that you just happen to have lying around gathering dust?" Shepard asked, skepticism clear in his voice.

"You bet! Next up is a clean, handheld device that provides infinite power!" I replied sarcastically. Orokin reactors are good, but they're not that good. "Take the nanites to Dr. Chakwas and make sure that you upload a medical scan of Ashley, or she'll end up with a broken body in addition to the broken jaw."

"Allright. We'll speak of this again later. For now, I should go." Shepard said, turning and exiting the room. Tali watched him exit, before turning to me.

"Before you ask, yes, there is some tech I can spare, and yes, I will be able to provide it to you. However, most of it will be in blueprint form, as I do not have that many physical examples of my gear." I said as Tali prepared to speak. "However, this mission takes priority. When we defeat Saren, I'll make sure that I give it to you."

"What makes you so sure that we will win?" Tali asked after processing what I just said.

"I have little to no doubt that we will be able to defeat Saren, as he is but one man, and we have a small army going after him. Sure, he's got the Geth with him, but from what I've seen so far, those tin cans won't give us that much trouble."

"I wish I could share your confidence. However, for now, I need to make sure everything's running smoothly. It wouldn't do for your ship to be forcefully detached while in relay transit." Tali said.

"Then I won't bother you while you work. Thank you for your time, Tali." I finished the conversation, and left the engineering room.

* * *

I exited the elevator, walking out into the crew deck. Kaidan was at his usual spot, leaning against a wall. I walked up to him.

"Hey, you. Ten-oh, or whatever your name is. Why the hell would you do that to Ashley?" Kaidan asked as I came closer.

"Its Tenno, and someone needed to smack some sense into her. She can't continue to use her grandfather as a crutch for her anti-alien mindset." I replied.

"I noticed that about her, but was it really enough to provoke such a response?" Kaidan asked.

"She directly quoted the Cerberus manifesto."

"And how do you know that?"

"Required reading for C-sec members. We need to know the mindset of the various fanatic groups we face. Its xenophobic crap, the lot of it. Why do you ask?"

"On the way to Therum, we took an hour long detour to a planet called Edolus, as part of a request from admiral Kahoku. We found a platoon of alliance marines, dead, lured into a Thresher maw nest by a Cerberus distress beacon. Does that warrant suspicion on my part?"

"Damn... I knew Cerberus was twisted, but that's low even for them." I lied. I knew damn well what Cerberus was capable of. Feeding people to Rachni and Husks was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Oh? What did you know about them?"

"I heard they were a terrorist organization with a massive budget, with some of the Alliance's richest citizens backing it. After investigating, I found something on a Cerberus facility on Pragia. While I couldn't get much on it, from what I could find, it was a 'research facility for Biotic children'. The facility itself was shut down a while ago, its scientists relocating to the alliance's Ascension program."

"Damn..." Kaidan whispered as the implications took hold in his mind.

"You're a biotic, right?"

"Yeah, L2."

"You were lucky, then, that you weren't kidnapped and sent there."

"I guess so. Anyway, why are you up here? Your ship's down in the hangar, and there's no-one to see up here, excluding me, of course."

"I'm just getting to know the ground team I will be working with. Already talked to everyone on the lower deck, which leaves only you and Liara, and its also wise to know the ship's doctor, so I'll be seeing Dr. Chakwas as well."

"Allright, don't let me hold you up then. You're free to go." Kaidan said.

"It was nice talking to you, Kaidan." I said, before walking to the medbay.

Once inside, I was met with a stern faced Dr. Chakwas.

"I hope you have a good explanation for this." She said simply.

"For what, the fact that Ashley's hurt or the fact that she's healed?" I asked. It was true, the Gunnery chief in question was already sitting up, her jaw almost fully repaired.

"Both!"

"I broke her jaw because she was using her Grandfather as an excuse for possibly extreme anti-alien views, while I healed her because I was concerned about her performance on the ground."

"Good. Now, I want to know exactly where you got those medical nanites. If we had the capability to mass-produce them, we could make Medi-gel obsolete, not to mention save thousands of soldiers' lives!"

"To answer your question, I made the nanites. I can send you production requirements, although I can only wish you the best of luck in mass producing them. I can barely make enough to keep my armor's supply filled, while what fabrication facilities the Normandy does have are not nearly advanced enough to produce the medical nanites in any great number."

"Send me whatever you can, and I'll make do."

"I can do that, doctor."

"Good. Now, I assume you want to talk to either Ashley or, more likely, Liara?"

"Very astute, doctor."

"Then I won't hold you up any longer. Liara's in the back room, and you already know where Ashley is." Chakwas said, stepping aside and allowing me into the medbay. I nodded to Ashley as I walked past her.

Entering Liara's room, I saw the Asari in question engrossed in a copy of 'Lovers of the Night Winds', a particularly graphic romance novel involving Ardat Yakshi, Turian generals, Asari Matriarchs, and an Elcor thrown in for good measure.

"Oh, Tenno!" Liara said, hurriedly hiding the datapad containing the book in question. "I never had a chance to thank you for your rescue of me from those ruins back on Therum."

"Actually, I think you did. Back when we were on Therum, after I teleported you out." I said.

"Regardless, I want to thank you for what you did back there. If you hadn't come, I could very well be a skeleton, floating in a Prothean energy field for the rest of time."

"I'm glad that didn't happen. How are you holding up after being trapped in there?"

"I'm fine, Dr. Chakwas took care of everything. I'm joining the ground team, as you may already know, in order to provide biotic support and analyze any Prothean artifacts we may find."

"That's good to hear. Maybe with your... unique view of the Prothean extinction, we will be able to find the Conduit before Saren, not to mention stop the Reaper threat."

"I hope that I can prove myself useful in the upcoming missions. I look forward to working with you, Tenno."

"Likewise." I said, turning to walk out of the room. Before I left however, I said one more thing.

"Lovers of the Night Winds? Really?" I asked. Liara's response was cut out as the door closed. I then headed down to my ship.

* * *

Once inside the privacy of my ship, I finally had the opportunity to take off my Warframe. Underneath, I still looked somewhat human, although my hair had long since gone grey, something the nanobots did not fix. The rest of my skin was unnaturally pale, and if you looked closely, you could see a faint segmented pattern from the sub-dermal armor plating underneath. My eyes were grey, and glowed slightly due to the nanobots contained inside them. In short, I still could pass for human, but I was far from the man who was ripped from his home dimension all those centuries ago.

Once I had exited my armor, I walked into the tiny room that composed my private quarters. I picked up a datapad, and integrated with it, composing a short report to the council in mere seconds, having bypassed the restrictions of a keyboard.

The report read: Insertion into the Normandy's team of specialists is successful. Rescue of Dr. T'soni has been successful, with the doctor being fully co-operative with us once she was recovered. A concerning development, however, occurred in the form of a Krogan under Saren's command appearing during the rescue operation. I will investigate further. Hopefully, the battlemaster in question was a mere mercenary, rather than a member of one of Tuchanka's clans.

Short and to the point, just the way I like it.

* * *

Only one development of interest happened on the way to the Citadel. After reviewing my personal arsenal, Shepard asked me to equip the ground team with weapons of my own design. While the team itself was unable to use my my highly advanced weaponry effectively, due to most of the guns inside either requiring special equipment only found in warframes to use effectively, an example being the Soma's aiming system, which was completely reliant on a connection with the Warframe's helmet, while most of my infested arsenal needed the warframe to sustain the technocyte and bioengineered flesh composing them. What few weapons I could provide would not be effective in the squad's hands (A certain Quarian attempting to use throwing knives came to mind).

Thus, I had decided to build a set of weapons for the entire squad, using a hybrid of Mass Effect and Tenno technology. By the time the Normandy arrived at the Citadel, I had already formulated a set of blueprints for said weapons, basing their design off of various guns used by Tenno and Corpus, before adding in Mass Effect tech to the mix. Standard Mass Effect guns already used thermal clips, which was strange to me, because in Mass Effect 1 the guns had infinite ammo, regulated by heat given off from firing, which seemed far better than the Thermal Clip based weapons of ME2, as there were no worries about ammunition supply.

As the Normandy approached, I slipped on my Warframe, and armed myself, attaching my Nikana to my left hip, my Angstrum going on my right. Placing my Soma on my back, I entered the Normandy hangar. Then, I remembered about the surprise inspection coming up, and ordered Serina to cloak my ship and seal the entrance. The Hunter's void cloak activated, while the entrance to my ship was sealed off, the plate that was removed to allow for passage between the two ships flowing back into place, solidifying into a seamless floor plate. Good as new. Then I took the elevator to the upper deck, arriving just in time to see the Normandy begin its final approach sequence. The sight of the Citadel was indeed impressive, but I, having seen truly gigantic void towers amid the constantly shifting storms of the void, failed to be amazed.

After the Normandy pulled into dock, the shore party disembarked, and I saw Admiral Boris Mikhailovich waiting for us.

As Ashley and Kaidan noticed the Admiral, they snapped into a salute, Admiral Mikhailovich ignoring them, instead walking up to Shepard.

"Rear Admiral Mikhailovich, fifth fleet." He said, introducing himself. Shepard saluted in response.

"We weren't told to expect you, sir. I would have prepared a formal greeting." Shepard said.

"Spare me the pleasantries. I command the 63rd scout flotilla. You and the Normandy were slated for my unit after shakedown. Then the Council got their paws... claws. Tentacles. Whatever. They got them on our ship, and on you." The admiral said.

"I still serve the Alliance, sir. As a SpecTRe, I can advance out interests to the Council." Shepard responded. The admiral snorted.

"You still know what color your blood is, Shepard? I don't begrudge the politicians' decision to throw you to the council. Its an... opportunity. However, I do begrudge this overdesigned piece of tin."

"The Normandy is not overdesigned, sir. Rather, it is the best ship in council space for operations behind enemy lines, which is a role that the SpecTRes tend to fill."

"Say what you will about the ship, you are entitled to your own opinion. However, this experiment diverted billions from our appropriations bills. For the same price, we could have had a heavy cruiser! But no, we had to make nice to the Turians and throw money away at a co-developed boondoggle. I'm here to make an inspection, commander. The Normandy is an alliance warship, and I intend to see that it is up to snuff."

"Then we'll be honored to show her to you." Shepard said.

"Wait here. I won't be long." Mikhailovich replied, stepping into the ship. I already knew what complaints the good rear admiral would lodge, so I decided not to stick around.

"Shepard, I will go now to requisition the proper materials for your request." I said, not giving Shepard a chance to reply before I entered the elevator leading down to C-sec academy.

* * *

**2 Hours Later**

I was being followed, that much I knew. I first noticed it after I picked some 50 kilograms of refined Eezo, and gradually became more aware of my pursuer's identity over the next hour. He was a man, black hair, wearing a piece of yellow and white casual wear. He tailed me from a certain distance, occasionally sneaking a glance when he thought I was not looking. Ducking into a less used alleyway of the Ward I was currently in, Tayseri, I think, I waited for my pursuer to make himself known, shifting my warframe into Loki configuration.

Sure enough, the man came around the corner, a pistol in his hand. He didn't even get a chance to speak before I used a radial disarm, his weapon becoming dead weight in his hand. A second later, a switch teleport disoriented him. He turned to me, and attempted to fire his gun, his finger coming down on the trigger several times, doing nothing. Soon, my sword was at his throat.

"The only reason your head is still attached to your shoulders is because I have a few questions to ask. Answer them, and I won't take your head off." I said.

"You psycho! I'll call C-sec!" Was my victim's response. I made a show of sighing dramatically, before using the tip of my Nikana to remove a patch of his clothing that had been hurriedly covered up. A familiar black and gold logo was emblazoned on his shoulder.

"Cerberus, eh? Tell me who leads your cell and where it is located, and I won't shove this blade down your throat." I said.

"I won't tell you shit!"

"Tsk, tsk. Wrong answer. Serina, get all possible info out of his omni-tool." I said.

"Affirmative. Beginning data mine." Serina said, the man's omni tool lighting up. A Cephalon pattern VI was equipped with state of the art Tenno hacking suites. Serina's evolution into an AI amplified her already formidable hacking abilities.

"This man is currently a member of Theseus cell, located in a high-end apartment in the B block of the Presidium. This operative's goal was to apprehend your equipment, preferably with you alive, for experimentation." Serina said, in no time at all.

"Who leads it?" I asked.

"The Theseus cell is currently led by an individual known as 'Andrea Finch', although the probability of that name being a pseudonym is above 95%."

"Good. Time to pay her a visit." I said, delivering a clean death blow to the unfortunate Cerberus operative. "Send a message to Shepard. Tell him that I have discovered a Cerberus presence on the Citadel, and that I am working to eliminate it."

"Message sent. Shall I arrange for transportation to the apartment in question?"

"Please do." I said, exiting the alley.

* * *

The sky car ride was relatively short. I was dropped off on the roof of a neighboring building, so as not to directly alert the Cerberus operatives, who were in the penthouse of the apartment building, most likely taking advantage of the roomy accommodations.

Shifting my frame into an Ash configuration, I teleported across the gap between the two towers. Entering the building, I was met with two Cerberus troopers in full armor. Before either had a chance to scream, Shurikens found a place in their throats. Moving quickly down the maintenance passageway, I saw a group of four Cerberus troops standing guard at the Penthouse entrance. Lifting my Soma, I quickly gunned two of them down, the other two returning fire, my shields flickering as grains of Tungsten struck the energy field surrounding my Warframe.

The gunfire alerted two more Cerberus operatives, who ran out of the penthouse, rifles raised. A long burst from my Soma killed them, before I teleported across the gap between myself and the remaining Cerberus guards. My Nikana flashed as it was swept from its sheath, sweeping around me in a wide arc, killing both of my opponents. Cleaning the blade of blood, I sheathed it.

"Serina, get this door open." I ordered, the door sliding open seconds later. I was met with a storm of gunfire, as two Cerberus guards opened fire. Raising my Angstrum, I fired a two rocket spread, listening to the satisfying sound of the rocket pistol firing. The Cerberus agents were sent flying, dead. I entered the apartment, detecting only one more lifesign, inside a smaller, more private room. I took a moment to inspect my surroundings. The Penthouse looked normal, but I detected a higher than average power draw coming from the room where the last Cerberus member was holed up.

"Serinal, unlock that room." I said, pointing to the door in question. The door slid open, revealing a mess of computer terminals, data storage units, a goddamn Quantum Entangler, and a familiar black haired woman.

"Andrea Finch I presume? Or should I call you by your real name, Miranda Lawson?" I asked, entering the room, weapon ready. Miranda raised a pistol, intending to fire. I swatted it aside with a strike from my Nikana.

"Are you here to kill me? Or are you going to take your time gloating about your victory?" She asked.

"On the contrary, Miranda, I won't kill you. You still have a part to play in this mortal universe, although once it is done, you only need to ask." I replied.

"What the hell do you mean?" Miranda said, maintaining her cold, arrogant Bitch demeanor even with a sword at her throat.

"That is for me to know and for you to find out. The only reason I'm here is because I stumbled on one of your agents, acting all sneaky trying to capture me. If it was anyone else here but you, they would already be dead. My armor is not some lab rat to be dissected. Now you are going to dial up your boss, the Illusive man, and tell him that this Cell is no longer operational, and that I am off limits. If I so much as smell Cerberus going after me again, I will go after Oriana. Do I make myself clear?" That got her attention.

"How do you know about her?" She asked, the coldness vanishing, replaced by fear.

"I have sources. Now, go call the Illusive Man. I don't care if he's fucking Matriarch Trellani right now, you are going to tell him that Cerberus is not to come after me."

In response, Miranda walked up to the QEC, pressed a few buttons, and stepped into the transmitter. The Illusive Man's hologram appeared moments later.

"Miranda, I trust the subject has been successfully apprehended?" He asked. Before Miranda could answer, I stepped in, delivering a knockout blow to the side of Lawson's head with the flat of my sword blade, sending the woman crumpling to the ground.

"Not quite, Jack Harper." I said.

"How the hell do you know that name?" The Illusive Man said, his voice taking on a harder edge. I had struck a nerve.

"I have my ways. However, I am not here to discuss those ways with you. I am simply giving you a warning." I replied.

"And that warning is?" TIM asked.

"Keep your men away from me, or you will lose a fortune in bodybags. If you do manage to keep your paws away from me and the Normandy, I will... assist you in certain events that will come up. While the Normandy's journey will most likely put it on a collision course with several Cerberus cells, all of which will most likely be destroyed, I will avoid actively hunting down and destroying Cerberus during my mission." I was bluffing, as I needed Cerberus to bring Shepard back to life.

"So what you are saying is that either I lose a few cells, or lose my organization?"

"Exactly. While the cells you lose will be of little to no consequence, their research being doomed from the start, the task I will assist you with in the future will be of monumental importance, and I want to see it succeed as much as you do. Not just for humanity's sake, but for the rest of the Galaxy as well."

"And what is this task, exactly?"

"I cannot tell you, as that could screw up the timeline I have been trying so hard to manipulate. Suffice to say, it involves bringing a dead man back to life."

"Impossible."

"It can be done."

"What was the cause of death?"

"Vaccum exposure."

"I see. It may be doable, provided the body is recovered intact."

"That is where I come in. Now, do we have a deal?"

"Yes. I see no other option but to go along with you, assuming you are telling the truth. I will expect a few cells to go off the map, but if you try to double cross me, no amount of advanced technology will save you."

"I am not planning on it. Goodbye, Mr. Harper." I smiled as the comm cut out. There was one more thing I had to do, now that Miranda was unconscious. Activating her Omni-Tool, I left a simple message. "Make sure Niket knows about Oriana, otherwise he will betray you when you need him most."

Then, I walked out of the penthouse, returning to the Wards to continue my shopping trip.

* * *

The supplies I ordered arrived within a few hours, allowing me to get to work. I had notified Shepard of my mission's completion, omitting my little chat with the Illusive Man.

Shepard, along with Ashley and Kaidan, was out requisitioning supplies for the Normandy. The rest were enjoying some shore leave at Flux. The Normandy would be parked at the Citadel for a few days, giving my ship's foundry plenty of time to work. The weapons I made were as following:

Scylla Assault Rifle- Resembling a Corpus Braton assault rifle, albeit with a more Tenno asthetic to it, the Scylla used a Mass Effect acceleration system to pulse fire particle beams, carrying forty shots per magazine. It used standard firing blocks present in all Mass Effect weaponry as ammunition, so ammo was not a big concern. For Garrus, Kaidan, Ashley, Wrex, and Shepard.

Charybdis Shotgun- I originally began designing this gun with a Strun in mind. However, the final product looked like the result of a Tigris and a Soma getting drunk and having kids. The twin barreled, duplex auto action of a Tigris, coupled with two crescent firing block adapters, completed the asthetic. The Charybdis fired tight spreads of six pellets, twelve per pull/release cycle of the trigger. For Tali, Wrex, Ashley, and Shepard.

Circe Sniper Rifle- Modeled after the Corpus Snipetron rifle, the Circe used Mass Effect fields to accelerate a slug about the size of a .30 cal bullet to relativistic speeds. Capable of punching through the kinetic barriers of a tank with ease. Ammunition was still drawn from standard Ammo blocks, although the rifle only got 5 shots per block, making ammo a problem. The problem was eventually fixed after I installed a modified Ammo Mutation mod into it, the mod's nanites altering the rifle to contain a small smelter, allowing for it to take any scrap metal and turn it into ammo, provided that it could fit into the adapter. Some early calibration was necessary to make sure it didn't mistake a Turian's Thulium rich skin for ammo. For Garrus only.

Poseidon SMG- Designed with the Furis in mind, the Poseidon ended up being a miniaturized version of the Scylla, firing smaller, weaker particle beam pulses at a faster rate with reduced accuracy. For extreme close range, the Poseidon could switch to a 'wide focus' mode, which caused it to fire rapid pellet spreads instead of standard particle beams. For Tali, Liara, Kaidan, and Shepard.

Siren Pistol- Built with the Lex in mind, the Siren was a heavy pistol, firing slugs of a size comparable to that of the Circe, albeit at a much slower velocity. Using a rotating four firing block chamber, the Siren could fire off an impressive 24 shots per clip, but that firepower came at the expense of weapon weight and reload speed. For everyone.

Odyssey Bow- Modeled after the classic Paris bow used by the Tenno, the Odyssey was designed to fire Eezo infused arrows, which interacted with the mass effect field projectors in the bow itself, allowing for the arrows to be fired at a speed high enough to punch through any set of personal armor in existence. (At least in this universe.) In addition, the arrow's eezo infusion could allow a skilled biotic to manipulate the projectile while it was in flight, allowing for the shooter to curve their shots to hit their targets. For Wrex and Shepard.

Normandy Sword- As much decoration as it was a weapon of war, the Normandy sword, at first glance, resembled a smaller, one handed Galatine. However, the pronged hilt was replaced by a model of the Normandy, the center hull forming the long blade, while the small hilt prongs were modeled after the ship's engine nacelles. The blade was infused with Eezo, allowing for the user to alter its mass either through their own biotics, or through a kinetic generator inside the hilt, which used energy from the sword's motion to send electricity through the Eezo in the blade. Every member of the Normandy's ground team would get one, both to remember the experience and to take a few heads.

After dumping the raw materials required into the ship's foundry, I decided to join the rest of the ground team on shore leave, grabbing a bottle of Grineer Beer for myself and Wrex. Removing and stowing away my warframe, I exited the Hunter, and headed for Flux.

Another short sky car ride later, I arrived at the bar, drawing a few odd looks as I walked in. My only armament was my Nikana, as I had stowed the rest away in my ship's armory.

"Sorry sir, no weapons of any kind are allowed on the premises." The bouncer said.

"Its an antique, functionally useless, but worth more than you make in a year. I'm meeting someone here in order to sell it. Now step aside." I said, annoyed.

"Allright, you can enter. Just don't take it out, allright?" The man said as I walked past him.

Wrex and Garrus spotted me as soon as I entered the bar, waving me over. Looking around, I caught a glimpse of Liara on the dance floor, while Tali was sitting with Garrus and Wrex, looking awkward and out of place. A few tables over, a group of Turians were whispering, occasionally casting a glance towards her. I made a mental note to keep an eye on them.

"So, Tenno. You finally decided to get off the ship! Ready to join the fun?" Garrus asked.

"You bet. I even brought something special." I said, revealing the Grineer Beer. This particular bottle was taken from Captain Rek Kir's private stock. The captain in question was in charge of a Fomorian dreadnought that we found hiding out past the outer terminus, about thirty years ago.

"What's that?" Garrus asked, curious.

"The one and only good thing to come out of Grustrag, myself excluded of course." I said.

"And it is?" Wrex asked.

"One of the side effects of the experiments was an extremely high alcohol tolerance. One of the inmates there figured out how to make this to counteract that. I... refined the design over the past three centuries. The result is stronger than Ryncol."

"Ha! Let's put that to the test, shall we?" Wrex said. In response, I formed my nanites into a shot glass, ignoring the gasp of surprise from Tali.

Soon, the bottle was empty, and both Krogan and Tenno were drunk.

"... so this captain was all like 'Oh Tenno, I'll kill you now', and my squad's response was all like 'Nope, we'll just blow up your dreadnought and be on our way.'" I slurred. I had never drank so much before, as after we had emptied the bottle, Wrex had called for Ryncol to keep the contest going. I was currently telling the team about how I had gotten the beer in question, with all the gory, Grineer chopping details included. Wrex was currently fluctuating between states of consciousness, while Garrus and Tali were also drunk, the Quarian holding on to my every word. However, the Turians at the far table, having noticed that our Krogan was in no state to fight, chose that moment to come over.

"You sure that's the one?" One of them said, pointing at Tali.

"Yeah. Purple enviro suit, with those swirls on it. That's the one Fist wants." Another replied.

"Then what are you guys waiting for? Grab her!" The first one said. All three drew pistols.

"Hand over the Quarian, and the rest of you live." The first one said.

"Heeellll noooo... I don't hand over Quarians to Turians who want them..." I slurred, standing up.

"Someone's willing to pay a handsome price to get his hands on her. Hand her over, and I'll give you a cut."

"Nooo *hic* I won't, not even if you ask reeeeaalllllyyy nicely."

"Suit yourself." The Turian said, raising his gun. In response, I aimed a clumsy slash at his neck, hitting the Turian in the head with the flat of my sword's blade. My target crumpled to the ground, out cold. I formed nanite armor around myself, just in time for the other two Turians to fire. One shot was deflected, the other penetrated my armor, burying itself in my shoulder. As my body's nanites worked to repair the damage, I aimed another clumsy slash, this time embedding my Nikana in the neck of the second Turian. It was a clumsy strike, and had I been sober, I would have been ashamed.

"Shit, shit, please don't kill me!" The last Turian said, having a sudden change of heart. My response was to punch him, sending the Turian to the ground. Then, I retrieved my sword, sheathing it, before resuming my tale as if nothing had happened, calling for more Ryncol.

* * *

"Uuugghh... what happened?" I said, waking up on the floor of my ship, with a MASSIVE hangover, and a pain in my shoulder that I recognized as a bullet wound.

"You returned to the ship approximately 6 hours ago, with a dangerous amount of alcohol in your blood. Don't worry, the Asari hookers have been sent away." Serina quipped.

"What?" I said, sitting up.

"That was a joke. I did have to use the promise of Asari hookers to get you into the med bay for detox treatment, however. That was not a joke." Seiina replied.

"Remind me not to get into another drinking contest with a Krogan."

"Logged. Drinking contests with Krogan are now prohibited."

It was about then that the events of the previous night began to come back to me, including my extremely graphic description of a Fomorian Dreadnought's destruction. I had a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

As I entered the Normandy hangar, I saw Wrex passed out on a pile of crates, a sound similar to a chainsaw running emanating from his mouth. Garrus was sitting up, nursing his head.

"Damn, how much did we drink last night?" Garrus asked as I approached.

"I don't know, a lot?" I replied.

"Remind me not to drink any more Turian Ryncol. I didn't even know it was possible to make dextro alcohol that strong!"

"Noted. However, about what I said..."

"Yeah, Tali heard everything. Wrex probably didn't, and Liara was too busy dancing, so that leaves you with one, maybe two people to explain yourself to. I must admit though, you sure have a knack for exaggeration. I mean, a 10 kilometer Dreadnought? Seriously? How would that thing even move?"

"You're right, a Fomorian is probably closer to 8 kilometers."

"No way. How does that thing even stay together when it moves?"

"I don't know, half of what the Grineer build looks like it will fall apart if you look at it the wrong way, but it still works. Fomorians are as ugly as their crew, but that doesn't stop them from being able to take on a small fleet of Corpus ships and win."

Garrus started to say something, but that was the moment that Tali entered the hangar, a crumpled emergency induction port still stuck into her helmet.

"About that tale I told back in flux..." I began.

"You can explain when my head doesn't feel like an army of Geth decided to use it for target practice. For now, can someone get this induction port out of my helmet?" She replied. I quickly removed the straw in question. That was about the time Wrex woke up.

"Huh? Did I win?" Was the first thing the Krogan said.

"Nope." The three of us replied simultaneously.

"Wait, how did we get back to the Normandy?" I asked.

* * *

**Flashback**

"Dammit Ashley, help me lift Wrex! He's heavy!" Shepard panted, lifting the passed out Krogan into the sky car.

"No can *wheeze* do skipper! Damn, what the hell has Tenno been eating?" Ashley replied. Meanwhile, Kaidan had biotically lifted both Garrus and Tali, only one of which was conscious, while a tipsy Liara stumbled in after him.

"That settles it. No more alcohol on leave for these guys! We come here, looking for a few drinks, and these guys beat us to the punch!" Shepard said.

"I know, right? The bouncer ran up to us, and screamed that the bar no longer serves Normandy personnel! Seriously?" Kaidan joined in the conversation.

* * *

**Present Time**

"Oh." I said, as Tali explained. "Well, there's always Chora's Den."

"Nope, we shot that place up rescuing Tali." Garrus replied. "All Normandy personnel banned by the new owner."

"I'm still mad that you guys let Fist go." Wrex grumbled.

"Well, what about the embassy lounge?" I asked.

"Normandy personnel banned, by order of Ambassador Donnel Udina." Shepard's voice rang out from the elevator. "In his own words, 'After seeing your mens' disgraceful performance down in Flux, I am hereby disallowing them access to the Embassy Lounge, in order to avoid any possible political shitstorm that may occur!' Seriously, what is wrong with you guys! At least let me in on the action before you get me banned from every damn club on the Citadel! And don't even get me started on the Asari hookers I found!" Garrus bowed his head shamefully at the last remark.

"I was drunk and they were all over me!" The Turian said.

"I get that, but SIX OF THEM?"

"Six? I could have sworn it was two!"

"YOU GOT TWO FOR WREX AND TWO MORE FOR TALI!" Shepard screamed. Tali stiffened at that last bit. "Until we leave for Feros, you four are confined to the Normandy! Any requisition orders will go through either me or the requisitions officer. Understood?"

"Yes commander." The four of us nodded. Shepard then returned to the elevator, most likely to do more work with Ashley and Kaidan. As soon as she was out of the room, Tali turned to Garrus.

"Two Asari hookers?" She asked, her voice dangerous.

"I was drunk!" Garrus responded.

As the two of them continued to argue, I asked Serina to check on the completion status of the squad's weaponry. It wouldn't be done until the next day, leaving me with nothing to do.

"So, now that we are in some semblance of sobriety, are you going to explain yourself to me or what?" Tali's question cut into my thoughts.

"Explain what?" Wrex asked.

"You were passed out when he began a drunk recounting of how he actually got that beer. It involves him boarding an eight kilometer dreadnought with three people like him, and blowing the damn ship up from inside, although he embellished some of the details." Garrus said.

"Well then, maybe I would like to hear an explanation." Wrex said, while Tali continued to pressure me as well. So I told them the whole truth.

After I finished my tale, Wrex looked at me.

"Either you're speaking the truth, or you have the wildest imagination I've ever seen." Wrex said.

"Seconded." Tali chipped in.

"Sometimes I question my sanity as well, but as far as I know, this is all real."

"Then what will happen to us? Will we stop Saren?" Tali asked.

"Yes."

"What about us? Will we live?"

"Can't answer that, at least not yet, especially in the case of Wrex, although from what I've seen so far, your chances are pretty high, provided Shepard doesn't die."

"Just wait until he tells you about our fans." Garrus said.

"Yeah, you three were pretty popular."

The conversation continued for another hour, mostly composed of me dodging questions regarding the future, and answering any queries regarding the Tenno.

* * *

"Yes, its definitely him." The figure said, reviewing the scattered scraps of Geth footage from Therum.

"What is your recommended course of action?" Saren asked.

"We are conducting major operations on Therum and Noveria at this time, am I correct?" The Stalker replied.

"Yes. I have already bolstered the forces on Feros, as that is the most probable destination of the Normandy." Saren said.

"Order the Geth there to analyze what they can from his technology, and to use that analysis in conjunction with the information I provided in order to create more powerful Geth units." The Stalker replied.

"Then where do we come in? When do we attack them personally?"

"When we know that victory is certain, we will strike. Until then, give Benezia a set of Geth swordmasters to supplement her force on Noveria. We will test the design there."

"That is acceptable." Saren said, before leaving the room. The Stalker waited, before turning back to the terminal.

"What are my new orders, my Orokin masters?" He asked, the message travelling to one of the Reapers in dark space. He received his reply soon enough.

* * *

**A/N: This much delayed, much inflated chapter is finally done, just like U14! The next story to be updated will be 'When Civilizations Meet'. Enjoy the new chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- Feros**

Urdnot Wrex gave the giant claymore a few testing swings. I had decided to make each crew member's weapon unique, custom built for its intended user. Thus, Wrex got a claymore while Tali got a shortsword.

"These are good weapons, Tenno, but I don't think that all of us know what to do with them." He stated, gesturing at the rest of the team. Of the Normandy ground team, only he and Garrus had any idea of what to do with the melee weapons, the former due to him being Krogan, while the latter due to his SpADE training. Ashley and Kaidan just stared at their swords curiously, Tali was scanning her sword for valuable tech, and Shepard was giving putting his weapon through a few clumsy test strikes.

"Uh, Tenno? I asked for weapons that were viable in modern combat scenarios, not glorified museum pieces." Shepard said, sheathing his shorter katana in disgust.

"Excuse me? A sword is perfectly viable in modern combat. All you need is the advantage of stealth and you can eliminate nearly any enemy silently and with a single strike. Kinetic barriers do nothing to stop the blade, and the blades could cut through a Warframe easily if you put a little power behind the strike. Most fighters nowadays just hide behind their guns and are helpless in melee, so all you need to do is close the distance and they can't hurt you." I replied.

"Not all of us have a suit of overpowered armor to absorb all incoming fire while we close the distance." Kaidan commented.

"I know, but Garrus and Wrex shouldn't have any problems doing so."

"One's a krogan and the other has undergone extensive training under you." Shepard said.

"Point taken. If you don't know what to do with these, just leave them on the ship for now. I'll do my best to train you guys after we leave Feros, but for most of you, the swords will just be dead weight. Now, do you guys want to see the guns I made for you?" I asked.

"Yes please." Shepard replied. I gestured to the requisitions officer to bring the case containing the various firearms that I had designed and made.

I opened the container, revealing its contents, composed of various weapons.

"Please take the ones with your names engraved on them." I smiled as the group picked through the case, drawing out their particular loadouts.

"Okay, what is this?" Ashley asked, holding up her shotgun.

"That's the Charybdis shotgun. It has two barrels and a duplex-auto mode of fire. By that I mean that it fires once when the trigger is pulled down, and fires again when the trigger is released."

"Sounds impractical. What are these crescent bits?" Shepard asked, indicating at what he meant.

"Those are firing block adapters. Unlike the current guns in the armory, these weapons go through conventional firing blocks at a much higher rate, so you should carry multiple firing blocks with you at all times. Technically, these weapons should be able to accept any scrap metal as ammunition, but firing blocks offer a much higher quality of shot when compared to, say, a scrap of iron, but both will do the job."

"How? All weapons use standardized firing blocks, but you say that any metal will do, regardless of its shape?"

"Any metal excluding Thulium will work."

"Why not thulium?" Garrus asked.

"The original design designated all turians as 'Thulium-Organic alloy', and would have attempted to convert any turian shooter into ammunition."

"Ouch..." Garrus said, realizing the implications of what I just said. He regarded his sniper rifle with a wary gaze, as if it would try to eat him as soon as he turned his back.

"What's this bow doing here?" Shepard asked, holding up the weapon in question.

"The Odyssey uses mass effect field projectors to accelerate an element zero infused arrow. It travels just slow enough to ignore kinetic barriers, and it can be guided through the air by a biotic. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes. A Geth pulse rifle can shoot thirty times in the time it takes for one arrow to be fired. That's more than enough to kill someone, even with full kinetic barriers." Shepard replied.

"That is why the bow is not your main weapon. You pull out the bow when you're facing something big, like an Armature or a Prime. It should be able to take one of those out with ease. However, when it comes to the little Geth, just shoot them with a rifle."

"I see. We'll test that theory out on Feros. Speaking of which, we leave for Feros in two hours. We should arrive there tomorrow. Right now, I want everyone to head to a firing range out in the wards and familiarize yourselves with your new armaments. I want you back here 30 minutes before we depart. There are to be no antics, no drinking contests, and most of all, NO ASARI HOOKERS! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" Shepard said, fixing Garrus, Wrex, Tali and Myself with a scathing glare.

"YES SIR!" We all replied, before entering the elevator and exiting the ship.

* * *

Several minutes later, the squad went its separate ways. Wrex disappeared somewhere into the wards, saying something about an old friend owning a shooting range. Garrus and I took Tali and Liara off to the C-Sec Academy, while Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley all went to some alliance owned practice range.

Soon, my party arrived at the academy, where we were met by the remaining members of SpADE.

"Well, well, well... What do we have here?" The flanging voice of Jovan Tarik sounded off in my ears.

"Hello, Jovan. How's life on the Citadel?" I asked.

"Nothing's changed... much. Pallin has disbanded SpADE in all but name. All we do now is sit around the Academy because the good executor thinks that we are too much of a risk to take on missions. It seems that you and your weight with the council was all that kept this from happening sooner." Shalia replied, frustration clear in her voice.

"Damn, I knew it would be bad, but this? Pallin pushed for this organization's creation barely half a year ago, and now he's destroyed it!" Garrus exclaimed.

"Too true. Anyway, what have you and master ninja been getting up to lately?" Shalia asked.

"Nothing much. Just tagging along with Commander Shepard, blowing up Geth and rescuing damsels in distress." I said, indicating Liara as being said damsel. That was when Kero'Sen asked his own question.

"So, what are you doing back here? Don't you have more Asari to rescue from the evil Geth?" The Quarian asked.

"I have to get these three," I pointed to my three companions, "To the firing range to test out some new weapons that I made for them."

"Aww, you never made any weapons for us when we were part of your unit!" Shalia exclaimed in mock jealousy.

"Don't worry, I'll make you all swords as soon as I'm done with this particular adventure. Now, I really need to get these three over to the shooting range. However, I am free for the next hour and a half, so I may be able to assist you guys." I thought for a moment. Given that Saren would soon attack the Citadel, I decided that the Council could use a few extra bodyguards. "How does bodyguard duty for the Council sound? I may be able to pull a few strings to make that happen."

"Standing around guarding politicians? I never thought I'd sink so low as to think of that as an improvement from my current condition." Taren said, garnering a few laughs from the surrounding SpADE officers.

"So are you up to it or not?" I asked. The SpADE members all showed their assent in some form. "Excellent. I'll see what I can do about it. Could you help my companions find the firing range while I try to talk to the council?"

"Sounds good." Jovan said, before ushering Tali and Liara along, while Garrus fell into step with his former comrades. I sent a short message to the council voicing my concerns.

* * *

Approximately ten minutes later, I was sitting down at a table, the three Council members sitting down around me.

"So, you are proposing that we take your former 'SpADE' unit and re-task it towards a guard role?" Valern asked.

"Exactly. In its current state, the unit is being misused, and is unable to act as it once was capable of doing. In its new role, it would provide heightened and capable security, should something like the Batarian kidnapping attempt happen again. Each and every one of the unit's members have been personally trained by me, so I can attest to their capabilities."

"I agree with Tenno. You cannot have too much security when it comes to matters of galactic importance. What if Saren somehow manages to attack the Citadel? Granted, he will not be able to make it past the defense fleet, but on the off chance that he makes it through, we will be his most likely target. Are there any objections to this?" Sparatus asked.

"Yes. By re-tasking this unit, we risk appearing weak at a critical moment. This appearance of weakness could be all that Saren needs as motivation to strike." Tevos countered.

"This isn't the Asari Matriarchs' council. A single appearance of weakness will not have all your opponents leaping in to tear you apart. If anything, this is a show of strength, as a new elite force of highly trained enforcers will be assigned to you, not only as a guard team, but also as a strike team at your personal disposal." I replied.

"I agree. The SpADE unit proved itself in its previous role multiple times before Pallin began to misuse the unit. Re-tasking said unit would allow us to use it more efficiently, both as a set of additional guards and, as Tenno said, an elite strike team." Valern said.

"It seems that you are outvoted on this matter, Tevos." Sparatus said.

"Very well. We will make the necessary arrangements." Tevos said. "However, I do wish for a demonstration of the unit's skills before I draw any conclusions."

"That can be arranged. Is there anything else you three wish to discuss with me?" I asked.

"No. That will be all." Sparatus replied. I said my goodbyes, before turning and leaving the room.

* * *

I returned to C-Sec academy several minutes later and gave my former trainees the good news. Shortly afterward, SpADE received a message formally informing them of the development. As they left the academy, I entered the firing range.

In the time of my absence, Garrus had used his new sniper rifle to great effect, having caused several hundred credits of property damage with a gun that could punch a hole clean through a Mako.

Tali and Liara, having little to no combat training, were less successful. While both of them knew how to use a gun, both of them were not trained to use them well. While Tali was slightly more skilled with her own weapons, as she had received some combat training before leaving on pilgrimage, Liara was almost clueless, the many scorch marks on the wall surrounding her target making that fact clear.

"Hold the pistol with two hands. This isn't some action vid where a hero charges in dual wielding SMGs. You have to aim your shots, not just spray and pray." I said, correcting the Asari. Of her next three shots, two hit.

"We'll be returning to the Normandy in an hour. Get what practice you can with those guns, you will need them on Feros." I said, addressing the group, before joining the shooting match.

* * *

**BANG!**

**BANG!**

**BANG!**

"Another hundred credits down the hole." I said, inspecting the damage caused by Garrus' latest barrage of gunfire.

"I can see why you said to use this rifle with caution." Garrus replied, grabbing a pair of firing blocks from the pile that he had next to him.

"Yeah, that thing could take out a line of charging krogan with one shot." I replied, firing off a burst with my Soma.

"Glad that it's on our side, then." Garrus said, placing one of the blocks into the adapter before beginning to fire again.

A series of rapid two shot bursts turned my head, allowing me to see Tali chew through a pair of firing blocks on her shotgun. It seems that she had mastered the weapon's duplex-auto action, and was now seeing exactly how many target dummies she could decapitate in as short a time period as possible. Running out of ammo, she quickly switched to her SMG, setting it to wide focus before unleashing a rapid string of full auto shotgun blasts. Noticing her success in dummy destruction, I walked over to a control console near the edge of the firing range and activated a function that I had built into the range for training my SpADE agents.

A series of modified LOKI mechs stepped out of storage alcoves, raising custom designed stun rifles. The weapons were based off of the Corpus Amprex and fired powerful electric shocks, enough to knock someone out with two or three hits. In addition, this particular model of mech had been modified for enhanced mobility, while the VI controlling the mech had also been upgraded significantly. Garrus shot me a scathing look in the moments before the modified mechs opened fire.

A storm of electrical fire caught two of the room's four occupants by surprise. Tali threw herself to the side moments before a string of electrical discharges crossed the space she had just been occupying. Liara took one hit and dropped to her knees, which was a blessing in disguise as the next three discharges flew over her head. She scrambled to the nearest piece of cover, a stack of crates, while I activated a set of voice amplifiers in my warframe's helmet.

"You have a new objective. Eliminate all mechs using any means at your disposal." I said, before sitting back and watching the show.

Tali overloaded one of the mech's shields, before sabotaging its weapon. The pulse of electricity coursed through the mech, disabling it. She then took cover as return fire streaked through the air she had occupied seconds before.

Reloading her shotgun, Tali waited until the first mech came into her line of fire, before releasing a rapid two shot burst, dropping the mech. A second pull of the trigger sent another mech down, after which Tali retreated as return fire streaked back towards her. Stowing her shotgun away, she pulled out her heavy pistol. Taking aim, she fired three times at one of the two remaining mechs that were attacking her. The first shot was deflected by kinetic barriers. The second one missed, but the third shot slammed into the mech's chest, forcefully deactivating the robot. The last one fell prey to one of the Quarian's overloads fired from her omni tool.

As Tali dispatched her foes, Liara was having trouble dealing with her own. The asari had never taken part in any real combat, and her inexperience, coupled with her being hit early on, severely hampered her ability to fight. A biotic singularity had temporarily incapacitated her foes, allowing Liara to partially recover from the hit she had taken. She pulled out her SMG and opened fire, spraying bullets in the mechs' general direction. She scored a few lucky hits, taking out one of the mechs, before the singularity expired and the mechs recovered. That was when Liara ran out of ammunition on her SMG. She cursed, reaching for a firing block that was not there. Then, she pulled out her heavy pistol and fired several times, taking out another mech. A biotic warp coupled with a lucky pistol shot took out a third enemy, but in the process of doing so, Liara had exposed herself for too long, allowing the surviving two mechs to draw a bead on her and shoot. The two bolts hit Liara, and the Asari crumpled to the ground. The mechs attacking her turned on Tali, who expertly overloaded one before taking aim with her pistol, firing several times. She missed most of the shots, but scored a direct hit on the overloaded mech, taking it out. However, this gave the other one an opportunity to fire, and Tali's young physique was not as robust as that of Kero'Sen, who could only take two shots before passing out. Thankfully the shock guns had been modified so as not to permanently damage any equipment worn by their target, including Quarian enviro-suits. The shot hit Tali square in the chest, sending her to her knees, incapacitating her. While she was still conscious, she was too weak to aim and handle recoil. However, as she fell, she got off one last shot, which, through an extreme stroke of luck, struck the robot directly in the chest, and with its barriers already weakened by Liara's singularity, the LOKI mech was disabled.

I shifted my attention to Garrus, who had so far not taken a single shot at his opponents. Instead, he had led them to a narrow passage between two stacks of crates, and was now taking aim with his sniper rifle. The robots that had been chasing him suddenly stormed through the narrow passage single file, as the pass was too small for any other method of passage. That was when Garrus' rifle spoke.

A single shot blew clean through all five mechs' chests, downing them all.

"Show off." I said, while Garrus bared his mandibles at me in a cheeky grin. That was when Tali passed out, thumping to the ground.

"So, I assume that we are heading back to the Normandy?" I asked.

* * *

"Why is it that whenever you leave this ship, you come back with at least one of my team members unconscious?" Shepard asked, gesturing to Liara, who was now sleeping peacefully on one of the cots in the medbay. Liara, having taken multiple hits, was still unconscious, while Tali had woken up minutes before Shepard had returned to the ship.

"It was a training exercise against mechs with stun guns. Liara managed to take out three before she went down herself." I replied.

"So, do you think that she would be an asset on the ground team?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, although not on the front lines. Her strength lies in her biotic abilities, but her skill with firearms is sub-par. By comparison, Tali took out seven mechs, although her skills are especially suited towards fighting synthetics, so her kill record would be skewed in her favor while fighting them. Thankfully, we are fighting Geth so we will be able to use that to our fullest advantage."

"Good. Now, I want you and the rest of the ground team ready for combat by the time we reach Feros. That means getting some rest, as the trip to Feros will take about 15 hours."

"I will do just that. Now, what did you think of the weapons I made?"

"They are effective, but ammunition is a major concern. Thankfully, I found out that we can keep the guns running off of Omni-Gel, which we have in plentiful amounts due to me breaking down some of our older weapon and armor sets." I sighed at that. Omni-gel could do damn near anything.

"Glad to see that they are up to snuff. Now, if you will excuse me, I am under orders to rest up for the coming mission, so I should go." I said, smirking under my helmet to have a chance to use that line against Shepard.

I then turned and exited the medbay, heading into the elevator. Diving into my ship, I headed to the armory, removing my warframe and putting it into its storage alcove. Then, I retracted any nanites I had out before heading to my personal quarters. Closing my eyes, I practically collapsed onto the bed, going out like a light.

* * *

I spent most of the ride to Feros sleeping, the nanites in my brain keeping me in a sedated state until an hour before we reached our destination. Right on the dot, I woke up, my brain nanites sending me into a fully conscious and alert state.

I walked into the armory and donned my Warframe, before opening my weapons locker to choose a loadout. Given that I would be fighting Thorian creepers, I would have given up a lot for an ignis, but alas, I did not have the Grineer-built flamethrower with me. Instead, I decided on taking the Phage as my primary, while packing the Angstrum as my secondary. My Nikana completed the loadout, the curved blade resting on my hip. I dove into the Normandy cargo bay to see the rest of the team hard at work, preparing for ground operations. Since there was no restriction on how many party members Shepard could take, the entire team could be utilized to maximum efficiency, which was critical to the plans that I had drawn up for Feros.

The hour leading up to our arrival at the besieged colony was spent in silence, as the rest of the team checked over their new weapons. Out of all the ground team members, only Garrus, Wrex, and surprisingly, Tali, had elected to carry their swords into battle, although Tali's weapon was sporting a significant amount of modifications to the hilt area. Curious, I walked up to her.

"Tali? What did you do to it?" I asked.

"Well, I noticed that the blade was infused with Eezo, so I made some additions to it in order to allow me to use it more effectively." Tali said.

"Oh? And what kind of modifications did you make?"

"The kinetic generator built into the hilt is amazing, but it assumes that the sword will be in constant motion throughout a battle, and I intend to use it more as a weapon of last resort. As such, I added in a power cell adapter, similar to the one used in my enviro-suit, allowing me to power the weapon at all times while in battle. At best, it will allow me to manipulate mass effect fields in a manner similar to biotics through use of this weapon, and at the very least, it would allow me to alter the mass of the weapon and deflect biotic attacks." Tali explained.

"Interesting. I'll keep an eye on it as soon as we hit the ground." I replied. Tali nodded in response, before returning to her work.

Finally, the Normandy arrived on Feros, coming in to dock at one of the giant towers that studded the planet's surface. I met Shepard and the rest of the ground team by the airlock, just as the decontamination cycle began. I tapped my foot impatiently as the cycle ran its course, before finally the door opened, allowing us out onto dreary old Feros. Immediately, Serina piped up out of my helmet's loudspeakers, allowing the entire squad to hear her warning.

"Alert. Class 6 bio-hazard detected. Please ensure that you are equipped with warframe breathing gear of class 4 or higher." The AI's monotone voice rang out, causing the entire squad to pause in its tracks.

"Bio-hazard?" Shepard asked, a look of worry on his face.

"Serina, analyze this bio-hazard. I want a full report-" I was cut off as Serina's analysis played. At first I wondered how the process took so fast, as she had previously taken several minutes to analyze any unknown substance that we had encountered. Then, I remembered that she was now an AI.

"The bio-hazard is a form of plant spore, with an unknown source. While non-lethal, it appears to have severe mind altering properties, likely causing insanity, migraines, and an altered mental state if inhaled for prolonged periods of time." the AI stated.

"What the? This did not show up on the planetary data readout!" Shepard said as he made sure his helmet was on securely.

"It seems that it emulates a harmless form of pollen, which would cause it to bypass most standard scanning arrays." I replied.

"Do you know what it is?" Liara asked.

"No." I replied, as we made our way out of the docked frigate's airlock and onto the colony tower proper. I saw the guard waiting for us as we disembarked.

"We saw your ship. Fai Dan wants to speak with you immediately." The guard said.

"Who's Fai Dan?" Shepard asked.

"He's... our leader. He needs your help to prepare for the Geth. They're making another push." The man said. "Please, up the stairs, past the frei-" The man never got to finish, as a Geth sniper picked him off with a clean headshot. The ground team ducked behind cover as a rocket soared our way, impacting harmlessly against the guard's barricade.

"Don't worry, I've got this." I said, raising and charging my Angstrum. The custom-modded rocket pistol prepared a crippling 8 rocket spread as I stood, pointing it towards the Geth, who were preparing to fire again. I released the trigger just as the Geth rocketeer took aim again. The red painted robot never had a chance to fire, as a spread of small but powerful rockets impacted his position, sending Geth parts, chips of stone, and coolant flying everywhere. Twirling the Angstrum, I placed it back on my hip. The rest of the ground team just sighed, as if they were expecting me to do such a thing.

"Well, that was fun!" I said as my team got out from behind their cover. We made our way through the tower proper, taking care of any Geth that stood in our way. The weapons had proven to be extremely effective, with any ammunition used being quickly replaced with Geth remains. I used my Nikana to dispatch anyone that survived the gauntlet of firepower that my team had been throwing at them, as the Phage was meant to be used against Thorian creepers, and the Angstrum was simply not meant for close quarters engagements. Finally, we reached the colony proper. Seeing the makeshift barricades with the ill equipped colonist militia crouching down behind them, I could only thing about how screwed these guys were if the Geth really decided to attack in force.

"Allright, we're here. Now, I will go speak with Fai Dan. The rest of you, find something useful to do in the meantime." Shepard said, before leaving, most likely to look for Fai Dan. Ashley, Kaidan, and Liara soon left to do their own thing as well, leaving me and my Turian, Quarian, and Krogan squadmates alone.

"Allright, what's really going on here?" Garrus asked.

"Do you want the long version or the short one?" I asked back.

"Short please." Tali said.

"Very well. This colony is the site of an experiment by ExoGeni corporation, testing the effects of Thorian spores. Said spores have an unusual effect on the minds of anyone effected by them: Essentially, they twist the mind and turn its body into a loyal servant of the Thorian, a giant plant creature that lives under this colony. The Geth are here because the Thorian has something that Saren wants, namely a cipher that would allow him to make sense of the Prothean vision he received on Eden Prime. We're here to get said cipher, and kill the Thorian, assuming that I can't make it co-operate with us." I said.

"Wait, what?" The rest of the group asked.

"Exactly. In the game, we killed it without a second thought, but I hope that we can avoid such an outcome this time around. After all, I can be very... persuasive, if I want to be." I said, shifting my armor into Nyx form. The rest of the group just stared.

"Oh, right. This is the Nyx warframe. It has mind control capabilities." I said, realizing that they didn't get the joke. I shifted the frame into Ember configuration, as fire beats plant every time.

"What's that?" Tali asked.

"What's what?" I replied.

"That thing you just did with your armor! I've never seen anything like it!" Tali said.

"Oh, this?" I asked, shifting my frame back into its Volt configuration as I realized that we still had Geth to fight before the Thorian creepers made their appearance. "This is my Warframe changing its configuration. Each configuration has its own unique abilities. Take this Volt configuration, for instance. It has powerful electrical projectors that allow me to shoot lightning bolts at enemies, as well as create energy barriers and sprint at incredibly high speeds for short periods of time. The configuration I used previously was the Ember, which, true to its name, is capable of shooting fire in various forms, as well as coating enemies in a powerful accelerant, which causes them to burn even brighter." I said.

"How many configurations are there?" Tali asked.

"I can currently create twenty different configurations of Warframe, but that is by no means the limit. Were I to return to the Tenno home dimension, I would likely be able to 'learn' more warframe configurations. Technically, I can form an infinite amount of combinations with the nanobots contained in this armor, but the problem is creating a configuration that works." I replied.

"That's amazing! The technology required must be centuries ahead of anything we have on the migrant fleet! Are you sure you can't give me any right now?" Tali asked.

"Tell you what. If you can get more kills than me on this next mission, I'll share with you the blueprints for a powerful Grineer sterilization field generator that can encompass an entire liveship. If not, I'll give it to you once this mess with Saren is over." I said. The device in question was used by the Grineer to create habitable zones on the toxic surface of Earth, hence their ability to 'cut off life support' to various sections of the planet. It used the fairly primitive Grineer technology, so the Quarians should be able to produce it.

Tali's eyes noticeably widened behind the helmet, as the glowing areas beneath the faceplate grew to nearly three times their normal size.

"You're on!" The Quarian said, raising her shotgun and giving me a determined look, before walking away to the spot where the Salarian merchant, Ledra something or other, was standing. I watched as the two talked for a little, after which the Salarian gave her a small bag containing her purchases. I then saw her remove a small grenade launcher from the bag, one small enough to be attached underneath a shotgun barrel. Then, she took out a large roll of adhesive tape, which she promptly used to fasten the launcher to the shotgun. Then, the quarian engineer grabbed the two bandoliers of grenades that she had purchased, strapping them around her waist. I could have sworn that she was smirking under that helmet.

While all this was happening, Wrex and Garrus had wandered off, presumably to look for Shepard. I decided to do the same, although I had the advantage of knowing where to look. I walked up to Shepard just as he was finishing up his conversation with Fai Dan.

"Good, you're already here. Saves me the trouble of looking for you." Shepard said.

"What's the plan?" I asked.

"This colony is on its last legs. They need food, water, and power if they're going to survive once we remove the Geth, and our enemy seems to have a transmitter of some kind under the colony, co-ordinating their assault. We'll handle all that, and afterwards we will all head for the ExoGeni building out across the skyway." He replied.

"If I may, sir, I believe that splitting up would be a better approach to this." I replied.

"Oh? Do tell." Shepard said.

"I believe that you take three of our ground team members with you to the ExoGeni building immediately, while I stay here with the rest of the ground team and secure the colony. This will allow us to A. Complete our objectives in a much more timely manner, and B. It will leave a force here to defend the colony should the Geth make another push." I said, remembering how Shepard had only two teammates with him ingame.

"Hmm. Well then, who do you propose I take with me?" Shepard asked.

"Take Ashley, Kaidan, and Liara up with you to the skyway, while Garrus, Wrex, and Tali stay here with me." I replied.

"I see. While your plan is sound, your group has almost all our strong combatants, as Garrus, Wrex, and you, Tenno, are our best frontline soldiers."

"True, but your group not only contains you and Ashley, but it also has almost all our biotics, with my group's biotic support coming from Wrex alone, and he isn't as powerful a biotic as say, Kaidan or Liara."

"Very well. I'll go along with this, on one condition. I want air cover along the skyway, and your shuttle is the best we have in that department. I want your shuttle providing air support for us as we move along the skyway, as we'll be exposed while we're doing so." Shepard said.

"That's acceptable, as my team will be spending most of its time underground anyway." I said, before uploading a program to Shepard's omni-tool.

"What's this?"

"It's a target painter. While it's not as effective as my helmet based one, it should allow you to call in airstrikes through use of your omni-tool. Just point at a target, and let the Hunter do the rest." I said, before disabling my helmet speakers and ordering Serina to launch the shuttlecraft. About 30 seconds later, the Hunter came into view, circling above the colony.

"Excellent. I'll brief the rest of the squad. You, meanwhile, go around and ask about what you need to do to get this colony up and running again." Shepard said.

"Yes sir." I said, turning and walking to the various colonists that would re-iterate the requirements to feed, power, and sate the thirst of the colony. Meanwhile, Shepard briefed the remaining ground team members on the plan of attack. Immediately afterward, Shepard departed with his half of the ground team, heading up towards the skyway. I met up with the rest of the team.

"Allright. We'll be heading down into the tunnels. There is a Geth comm relay down there that is coordinating their assault on Zhu's hope. In addition, we are to re-activate the colony water supply, which the Geth have cut off, as well as find a pack of Varren for food and recover some power cells for the colony power supply. Any questions?" I asked. Before anyone could reply, the tell-tale sound of a Geth firing a rocket came from the tower.

'Shit!' I cursed. I had forgotten about the Geth surprise attack that normally happened when you first met Fai Dan.

"Protect the heart of the colony!" Fai Dan shouted as everyone in the rocket's path scattered, the projectile missing its mark and exploding on a far wall. I readied my sword, about to charge into the tower, when a loud 'BOOM!' came from the structure. Looking around, I saw Tali reloading her grenade launcher.

"Secure the tower!" I shouted, as Garrus pulled up a screen on his omni-tool. On it were two pictures, one of me, another of Tali. As I watched, the number 5 appeared under Tali's picture.

"Someone's got to keep score." Garrus deadpanned as we ran into the tower.

My only response was to growl as I sliced a Geth in half.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the late update. School has been extremely demanding of my time lately, forcing me to go on temporary hiatus.**

**With that in mind, I have decided to split the Feros arc into several smaller chapters, as writing massive 10k chapters would cause any reasonable update rate to go straight out the window.**

**Finally, I have been having an infestation of plot bunnies, which breed like rabbits despite the genophages I have unleashed on them time and time again. However, should I start a new story, my update rate will likely drop even further, which is a problem. However, I would like to get to work on at least one of these, as starting a new fic is the best way to motivate me to work on this site. As such, please vote for your favorite of these three in the reviews section, after which I will either A. Set up a poll on my profile should I not get enough feedback, or B. Get to work on the new story, as well as update my old ones.**

**They are the following:**

**1\. (Bionicle Fic) Title: Colonization. A human colonization craft carrying a million men and women in cryostasis arrives in orbit of Spherus Magna, a few years after the defeat of the Makuta and the migration of the Matoran out of the Great Spirit Robot. Left with no alternative, the colonists proceed with colonization, bringing them into contact with the many races inhabiting the newly reformed world of Spherus Magna. **

**This story has been in my head for quite some time, since before I released 'Unity, Duty, RWBY', having been passed over for that particular fic. Now, I'm giving my loyal readers who have stuck with me through my long hiatus a chance to decide whether they want this particular story or not.**

**2\. (Sword Art Online Fic) Title: The Other Server. The story of Kirito and Asuna and their fight to save the thousands trapped in Kayaba Akihiko's death game is an amazing one, showing human strength, versatility, and skill at its finest. It also only freed one server. After all, the death game of Sword Art Online was also released in America, with a separate server being created for that particular country. Unfortunately for the players imprisoned inside, Kayaba Akihiko cannot be in two places at once. With no alternative way out, the people of the American server of SAO have no choice but to clear all 100 floors of Aincrad to earn their freedom... or die trying. **

**This will be an all OC fic, which I know is kind of frowned upon. It will incorporate the setting from SAO, but the plot line will be different due to there being completely different characters. With regards to unique skills, I do plan on dishing them out to select characters, but I will try my best to not make them OP. An example would be: «Battle Fury»- Attack speed slowly increases as battle goes on. Reset upon exiting combat. A nonexample would be- Kill wave- Insta-kills everything in a 1 mile radius when used.**

**3\. (Code Geass/Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Crossover) Title: TBD. As Lelouch faces down the firing squad in the Shinjuku Ghetto, a mysterious green haired girl takes a bullet meant for him. As she dies, she uses a telepathic ability to inform Lelouch that he is Dragonborn, a powerful individual with dragon blood coursing through his veins. With this newfound power, Lelouch now possesses the ability to change the world, and has a chance to make good on his oath to wipe the oppressive empire of Britannia from the face of the world.**

**Essentially, this replaces Geass with the power of the Dragonborn. This particular idea has not been around in my head for very long, so it will take some refining to iron out all the kinks contained within, such as finding a way to prevent C.C. from dying, (I'm thinking Vampirism) and finding another goal for the Emperor, as the world of C. and anything related to geass won't exist in the universe. I was thinking of casting Emperor Charles in the role of Miraak, and replacing the knights of the Rounds with Dragon Priests, with Bismarck being Konahrik, Luciano being Hevnoraak, and so on and so forth.**

**So, take your pick of these three and post the one you like most, and I will do my best to get it and my old fics out, although with my update rate being what it is, it may take a while.**


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